AUG 2,2007 - AT LEAST 50 CARS AND TRUCKS DURING RUSH HOUR WERE ON A BRIDGE IN MINNESOTA WHEN IT COLLAPSED IN THREE STAGES INTO THE RIVER ON I-35. 4 PEOPLE WERE KILLED SO FAR AND 66 INJURED AND 20 STILL MISSING. THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF RESCUE TEAMS ON THE SCENE.
Death toll dips to 4 in bridge collapse By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, Associated Press Writers AUG 2,07
MINNEAPOLIS - Authorities lowered the death toll from an interstate bridge collapse to four Thursday, but warned the final number could change as divers comb the twisted steel and chunks of concrete that crashed into the Mississippi River. Police Lt. Amelia Huffman said: This morning, the medical examiner's office only has four sets of remains. Initial reports of seven people killed were based on the best estimates authorities had Wednesday night, she said.The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was in the midst of being repaired and two lanes in each direction were closed when the bridge buckled during evening rush hour Wednesday.
Crews planned to resume their cleanup and recovery work Thursday morning. Fire Chief Jim Clack said officials didn't expect to find any more survivors.More than 20 families gathered in a hotel ballroom early Thursday, waiting for word on loved ones who couldn't be located.I've never wanted to see my brother so much in my life, said Kristi Foster, who went to an information center set up at a Holiday Inn looking for her brother Kirk. She hadn't had contact with her brother or his girlfriend, Krystle Webb, since the previous night.
More than 60 people were injured and as many as 50 vehicles were in the river, many of their occupants having scrambled to shore. The collapse did not appear to be terrorism-related.Some injured people were carried up the riverbank, while emergency workers tended to others on the ground and some jumped into the water to look for survivors. Fire and black smoke rose from the wreckage.Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said the death toll could rise. We think there are several more vehicles in the river we can't see yet, he said Wednesday.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and that no immediate structural problems were noted. There were some minor things that needed attention, he said.They notified us from an engineering standpoint the deck might need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2020 or beyond, Pawlenty said Wednesday.The 40-year-old bridge was rated as structurally deficient two years ago and possibly in need of replacement, the Star Tribune reported. The newspaper said that rating was contained in the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database.We've seen it, and we are very familiar with it, Jeanne Aamodt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said of the 2005 assessment of the bridge.
Aamodt noted that many other bridges around the country carry the same designation that the I-35W bridge received. She declined to say what the agency was going to do to address the deficiencies found in 2005.Road crews were working on the bridge's joints, guardrails and lights this week, with lane closures overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday. The bridge was fitted in 2001 with a computerized anti-icing system that sprayed chemicals on the surface during winter weather, according to documents posted on the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Web site.There were 18 construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Tom Sloan, head of the bridge division for Progressive Contractors Inc., in St. Michael. One of the workers was unaccounted for.Sloan said his crew was placing concrete finish on the bridge for what he called a routine resurfacing project. It was the final item on this phase of the project. Suddenly the bridge gave way, he said.Sloan said his workers described a horrific scene. They said they basically rode the bridge down to the water. They were sliding into cars and cars were sliding into them, he said.
The entire span of Interstate 35W crumpled into the river below. Some injured people were carried up the riverbank, while emergency workers tended to others on the ground. A school bus had crossed the bridge before it collapsed. The bus did not go into the water, and broadcast reports indicated the children on the bus exited out the back door. Christine Swift's 10-year-old daughter, Kaleigh, was on the bus, returning from a field trip to Bunker Hills in Blaine. She said her daughter called her about 6:10 p.m. She was screaming, The bridge collapsed, Swift said. All the kids got off the bus safely, but about 10 of the children were injured, officials said. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said he spoke with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, and that both of them along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will be flying to the Twin Cities early Thursday.
The collapsed bridge stood just blocks from the heart of Minneapolis, near tourist attractions like the new Guthrie Theater and the Stone Arch Bridge. As the steamy night progressed massive crowds of onlookers circulated in the area on foot or bicycle, some of them wearing Twins T-shirts and caps after departing Wednesday night's game at the nearby Metrodome early. Thursday's game between the Twins and Kansas City Royals was called off, but the Twins decided to go ahead with Wednesday's rather than sending about 25,000 fans back out onto the congested highways. Inside the stadium, there was a moment of silence to honor victims. The steel-arched bridge, which was built in 1967, rose about 64 feet above the river and stretched about 1,900 feet across the water. The bridge was built with a single 458-foot-long steel arch to avoid putting any piers in the water that might interfere with river navigation.
The river's depth at the bridge was not immediately available, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a channel depth of at least 9 feet in the Upper Mississippi from Minneapolis southward to allow for barge and other river traffic. The site is just downstream from the St. Anthony Falls locks and dams. Associated Press Writers Brian Bakst and Patrick Condon contributed to this report from Minneapolis; Martiga Lohn contributed to this report from St. Paul.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
SAUDIS MAY ATTEND PEACE TALKS
Strong earthquake in Vanuatu AUG 1,07
GOLDEN, Colo. - A strong earthquake struck Thursday off the coast of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, originating far below the ocean floor. The 7.2 quake, which hit at 4:08 a.m. local time, didn't trigger any tsunamis around the archipelago and little damage was expected because it originated 108 miles beneath the ocean's surface, said Waverly Person, a geophysicist with U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.The earthquake hit 28 miles southeast of the Vanuatu town of Luganville and 1,240 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia.It was the first earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7 in 122 days, he said. Normally a quake in that range can cause buildings to collapse and deaths in populated areas.
A TROPICAL STORM IS BREWING, SEE WHAT HAPPENS AMERICA, USE ARE PUSHING ISRAEL REALLY HARD NOW SO LOOKOUT.
Heavy Rain in Parts of Northeast Texas Save Email Print
Jul 31, 2007 - Reporter: Associated Press
UNDATED — Flooding is a threat after parts of Texas have been hit with heavy rain today.The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Fannin, Lamar and Delta counties.Forecasters say more than three inches of rain fell overnight in parts of Fannin County, with additional rain expected.Meanwhile in South Texas, a flood warning is in effect for stretches of the Frio River and the Nueces River.Parts of Texas are still recovering from heavy rain and flooding going back to mid-June.
Tropical heat headed our way
By Tim Harlow, Star Tribune - July 31, 2007 – 9:11 AM
Here we go again. Another round of hot, sticky, steamy, sunny weather is in store for today and Wednesday with highs in the 90s and dew points soaring into the tropical 60s, the National Weather Service said.The mercury is expected to top out at 92 degrees today and Wednesday with a slight reprieve in store for Thursday with a high of 87 degrees. Tonight's low will be a sultry 71 degrees, and lows in the upper 60s are expected the rest of the week, the Weather Service said.
Rain has been in short supply recently, and the best chance for precipitation will come Wednesday night with a 50 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. A small chance of rain is in the forecast Friday night and Saturday. A slight risk of severe weather is possible over northwest and west central Minnesota Wednesday and Thursday, the Weather Service said.Any precipitation will bring much-needed relief to brown lawns and water-deprived trees and gardens. The seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area is in a severe drought with a precipitation deficit of more than 5 inches since April 1.
As of July 25, Albert Lea was more than 6 inches below normal. Litchfield, in Meeker County, was nearly 7½ inches below normal as was Chaska and many of the western suburbs, the Weather Service said.Some communities, such as Chanhassen, have enacted outdoor watering bans because of the dearth of rainfall.The recent string of sunny, windy days also has escalated the fire danger across the state. With the exception of the southeastern corner of Minnesota, the rest of the state has been placed under a moderate to very high fire danger, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com
United Nations sending 26,000 peacekeeping troops to Darfur
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 05:32 PM By: 680News staff
Toronto - The United Nations security council has unanymously approved a plan to send a 26,000 troop peacekeeping force to Sudan's Darfur region.The UN force will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong au force now on the ground in darfur before the end of the year.The decision comes following a speech from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who described the urgent need to also fight poverty and disease in Africa and around the world.If 30,000 children died needlessly and avoidably evveryday in America or in Britain, we'd call it an emergency, and an emegency is what it is, he stated. The security council backed the peacekeeping force after negotiations secured crucial chinese support.At least 200,000 people have died in Darfur in recent years.
PA Official: Immigration of 40 Paves Way For 18,000
17 Av 5767, August 1, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s concession, allowing 40 decedents of Arabs who left Israel in 1948 to emigrate to Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority officials say they are already working on using the precedent to bring about the immigration of 18,000 Arabs in Iraq to Judea and Samaria.PA Minister of Information Riyad al-Malki told the PA-controlled Maan News Agency that the return of the 40 paves the way for the return of all the Palestinian refugees.
Al-Malki said he contacted Knesset Members and officials in the Olmert regime, but that so far, the Israelis have agreed to let in just a small group of refugees. He promises to continue to work toward allowing tens of thousands more to join them.
July 31, 2007 - Perverse - ARLENE KUSHNER
According to Al-Hayat in London, which cited an Israeli senior government source, Olmert and Abbas have set up a secret channel for discussing final status issues. These include establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the refugee issue, the question of settlements and the future of Jerusalem, although -- according to the report -- there have been no breakthroughs.Olmert's office is denying this. But I have picked up similar inklings from another source and I consider this within the realm of possibility. Those of us who have been monitoring Olmert are aware that he is focused on this: a desire to give away part of the land. He came into office speaking of realignment, which was to be the Judea-Samaria version of the Gaza disengagement. When that didn't play because of the political situation, he pulled back temporarily. Now, with peace talk in the air, he may believe he has the opportunity to give our land to the Palestinians more directly.
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After considerable publicity about Olmert's possible readiness to allow Jordanian regular army forces from the Badr Brigade -- which consists of Bedouins with experience in fighting terrorists -- into Judea and Samaria to help the PA, Jordan has responded: Nothing doing. Said a Jordanian spokesman: To discuss such a notion is shooting down Palestinian aspirations of independent statehood and implies that the Palestinians aren't capable of taking responsibility for their own security. We aren't contemplating anything like that.Translation: We have no intention of getting involved at this level now.
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Round and round we go... But there's no clarity, no sense of anything really happening (because in truth nothing is happening):
The Arab states -- which had presumably been promoting peace via the Arab League initiative (from which the Saudis have since withdrawn) -- are now saying that they're not terribly enthusiastic about Bush's plans for a peace conference. Such an effort, they are saying, should be all-inclusive, meaning that it should work on peace between Syria and Israel at the same time. A new wrinkle. When the Arab governments met in Cairo on Monday to discuss their response to Bush's proposed conference, representatives of Syria stormed out, angry that fellow Arabs would even discuss it. It would, they said, liquidate the Palestinian cause.So much for that. Let's hope.
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A number of terrorist Palestinian groups -- most notably the Palestinian Resistance Committees -- have expressed fury with PA Prime Minister Fayad for dropping the term armed struggle (mukawama) from his newly announced platform. One PRC representative, Abu Abir, said they would target Fayad and his treacherous gang.
We will target them in the field the same way we attack Israel. We promise to put an end to all the American-backed Palestinian personalities in the near future because of their decision to side with the Israeli enemy.And so, guess what?
When Fayad was at the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Monday, he held a press conference and further explained his stand: Palestinians have a right to resist the occupation even if the word mukawama didn't appear in his platform (for semantic reasons and because of the possibility of misunderstandings): What is the essence of resistance, especially in light of the current occupation? Does it not begin with all possible efforts to strengthen the permanence of the Palestinian citizens on their land? That is precisely the government's agenda.Oh. Right. That was a close one for Fayad.
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Word came out from the Lebanese paper An-Nahar the other day that one of the two Israeli soldiers being held by Hezbollah is dead. This information reportedly came from Germans who had been in touch with Christian Lebanese Michael Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah.Israel is not giving this undocumented report credibility. In truth, we just don't know.
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It would seem that Bush has made pretty much of a mess of things with his latest diplomatic gambit. Over the weekend the US announced that it is planning to sell Saudi Arabia $20 billion in advanced weapons systems, including JDAMs that turn regular bombs into smart bombs, which present a potential strategic threat to Israel.
He is doing this to secure Saudi cooperation in Iraq. But it seems fairly short-sighted (exceedingly myopic?) to establish such a policy made in the expectation of an alliance with the Saudis. Of late, they promoted the unity government in Mecca, favoring Hamas; then they withdrew support for the Arab League peace initiative, instead pushing renewed negotiations between Fatah and Hamas, something that the US solidly opposes.
Far more significantly, Saudi Arabia -- home of radical fundamentalist, virulently anti-Shiite Islamic Wahhabism -- is directly connected to terrorism in Iraq. Saudi Arabia has permitted Sunni radicals to cross into Iraq, and has provided funding for them; Wahhabi clerics have encouraged them. The New York Times reports that Of an estimated 60 to 80 foreign fighters who enter Iraq each month, American military and intelligence officials say that nearly half are coming from Saudi Arabia.
And Bush has failed to notice this?
Addressing the issue of how the American government views the Saudis, Stephen Schwartz, a senior policy analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, writes, The (Saudi) kingdom is an unwavering nerve center of ideological indoctrination, incitement, and terrorist financing...Washington needs to end its delusion that the Saudi royal family is a moderating force Saudi Arabia has never been subjugated by the West, instead it has only been cuddled and bribed to ridiculous extremes. And in turn the West has received a torrent of violence and hateful venom.
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Resistance to this sale has been stiffer than Bush had anticipated, for the prospect of increased risk to Israel does not sit well here in Jerusalem or among supporters of Israel in Congress; there is no adequate Israeli defense for these smart bombs.
In an attempt to sweeten the situation, the US has announced an increase in military aid to Israel, from $2.4 to $3 billion annually. Along with this came promises of continuing US commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge and guarantees that limits would be put on the Saudis regarding use of their equipment (restrictions on the range, size and location of the satellite-guided bombs, including a commitment not to store the weapons at air bases close to Israeli territory). Whether the US is truly committed to Israel's qualitative edge remains to be seen. Israel's request to buy the US's most sophisticated stealth bomber has been denied. As to restrictions on the use of the equipment, a report today indicated that this may make it more difficult for Condoleezza Rice to get the Saudis to cooperate publicly with supporting the Israeli-Palestinian process. Is this not unreal?
Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) have announced that they will introduce a joint resolution to block the deal when Congress is formally notified. Said Weiner, The reputation of the Saudis has taken quite a beating since 9/11, and despite the fact that the administration has done everything to portray them as part of the moderate Arab world, members of Congress of both parties are increasingly skeptical.
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A Palestinian Arab was caught at a checkpoint (yup! one of those checkpoints again) near Shechem with 22 pounds of explosives.
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This is an interesting news item: The Prison Service has decided to cancel matriculation exams for Palestinian Arabs in Israeli prisons. Seems there have been several incidents in which Arabs brought in to administer the tests attempted to bring letters to, or accept letters from, the prisoners.
Matriculation exams for Palestinians in Israeli prisons? see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
THE BIBLE SAYS THAT SAUDI ARABIA WOULD BE WITH THE WEST IN THE LAST DAYS. BUT THE ONLY REASON I BELIEVE IS THE OIL SITUATION, THE SAUDIS ARE GETTING RICH...RICH...RICH OF THE WEST.
Saudis may attend Mideast peace talks By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 1, 1:25 PM ET
JERUSALEM - Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would seriously consider attending a Middle East peace conference proposed by the Bush administration for later this year, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began laying the ground work for the regional meeting. The proposed gathering is intended to revive the peace process and would include Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states viewed as moderate by the United States.Speaking during a rare joint visit by Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Jeddah, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said his government would look very closely and very hard at attending if the conference dealt with issues of real substance, not form.
Saud also said Saudi Arabia would explore opening diplomatic relations with the Shiite-led government in Iraq, an endorsement long sought by Washington. Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers have had frosty relations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and has not hidden its suspicions that al-Maliki does not have the interests of Iraq's Sunni minority at heart.A meeting between Israeli and Saudi representatives would be a major diplomatic breakthrough. Though Israel and Saudi Arabia are both U.S. allies, representatives of the countries have never officially met and Saudi Arabia has never recognized the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement Wednesday that Israel hopes many Arab countries will attend this international meeting, including Saudi Arabia.At a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem later Wednesday, Rice said she was encouraged by the attitude that I have seen here among all of the parties about the prospects of this international meeting.
However, Rice said in response to a question about Saudi participation, I think it's too early ... to issue invitations and certainly too early to expect people to say whether they will attend.
Rice's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, part of a wider tour of the U.S.'s regional allies, is her first since the Islamic group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June. Since then, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has run the West Bank with a moderate government led by his Fatah movement, and has won broad international backing while Hamas remains largely isolated.Olmert's office said a regional peace conference would also be able to grant an umbrella to the bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians.Before his meeting with Rice, Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, invited President Bush to visit Israel during its 60th anniversary celebrations next year, saying I truly hope we shall celebrate it in an atmosphere of peace.Rice meets with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday and with leaders of Abbas' U.S.-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank on Thursday.
The Hamas takeover in Gaza has spurred a flurry of peacemaking efforts in the past month aimed at shoring up Palestinian moderates, including a first visit to the region by international Mideast peace envoy Tony Blair and an unprecedented visit to Israel by a delegation from the 22-nation Arab League. That delegation urged Israel to accept an Arab plan offering peace in return for a withdrawal from all land captured in the 1967 Mideast War.Further helping the mood of conciliation are the fears in moderate Arab states about the influence of Hamas' hardline backers in Iran and about al-Qaida's brand of extremist Islam.Israel has carried out several gestures to bolster Abbas, including renewing the transfer of millions of dollars in taxes collected from Palestinians and releasing several hundred Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.Bush's July 16 announcement of a Mideast conference was meant to build on the new momentum and work toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials said it was time to move from gestures to discussing the core issues of the conflict — the borders of the future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees who lost their homes in the fighting that followed Israel's creation in 1948.The main topic will be the political negotiations, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said of Rice's upcoming meetings with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. We don't want a new initiative.Besides Livni and Peres, Rice is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In Rice's meeting with Barak, the two are slated to discuss American plans for a major arms sale to Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, and a parallel boost in defense aid to Israel, Israeli defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. Israel loudly opposed such arms sales in the past but has offered no resistance this time, saying the weapons were needed to offset Iran's military strength.
August 1, 2007 - Snake in the Grass - ARLENE KUSHNER
When it comes to twisting arms, Condoleezza Rice is a world champion, and right now she's on a roll. In Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of her current Middle East tour, she managed, after all, to get the ruling regime to say they would participate in the US-inspired peace conference in the fall. Rice and Secretary of Defense Gates, who is traveling with her, then made a showing at Sharm el-Sheikh for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Co-operation Council. At the press conference at the end of the meeting, she participated in a joint communiqué with Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states that recognized the Arab initiative as one of the foundations for Middle East peace.
Her duplicity is breathtaking. The Arab initiative calls for return to pre-67 borders, return of refugees to Israel, and a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. She would gladly sell us down the river if she imagined this would motivate the Arabs to help extricate the US from Iraq.
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Currently she's here, and meeting with various officials. More arm-twisting. Her goal while in Israel is to get Olmert to make more concessions to strengthen Abbas and advance peace. Or, as one official put it, to move to the next level, which, we've been told, means that Washington is eager to expand the range of things discussed between Olmert and Abbas. Explained an Israeli official, They're more than testing the waters. The Americans are trying to see how much they can expand the envelope of political horizon.Not surprisingly, the US government has been very pleased with recent Israeli government indications of a willingness to pull out of major parts of Judea and Samaria. Now it's a question of just how far Olmert will go.
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I'm waiting, and will wait a very long time, for balanced arm-twisting, with Rice insisting that Abbas has to really dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and stop incitement.
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Said President Shimon Peres today: When Condoleezza Rice arrives in the region she brings hope and freshness, this time more than ever. He declared that because of Rice we are now closer to peace with the Palestinians than ever.
If this weren't so terribly pathetic, it would be funny. A quintessential alternate universe statement that shows total lack of awareness of what's happening on the ground. When Rice arrives in the region, my blood pressure goes up several points.
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Remember all of the material and data that Hamas seized from Fatah in Gaza when they took over? It was inevitable that this would be used to weaken Fatah, and, while it has taken time, indeed, the process is under way.
Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar has just released to the Arabic press evidence of the corruption of the PA under Fatah. There will be more to follow, but the documents released now primarily show bribes, payoffs and similar improper use of funds authorized by Yasser Arafat from 1994 - 2004. There was $40,000 given to a Fatah official for his son's wedding, artwork worth $66,000 given to someone in Paris, etc.
Most damning for the current situation is that fact that some of these improprieties took place while Salaam Fayad, currently PA prime minister, was serving as finance minister under Arafat. Fayad is routinely touted as the cleanest of the PA officials.
Fatah offered two defenses. First, they claimed that the documents were forged. But Arab journalists who were permitted to exam the documents indicated that they seemed quite legitimate, as, I am quite sure they are.
Then a Fatah spokesman charged Hamas with not being able to account for monies it had received. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, if ever there was one. Even if Hamas is guilty of corruption (and all indications are that Hamas is considerably less corrupt than Fatah), this does not remotely absolve Fatah.
What I'm interested in is how the international community will continue to justify support for a Fatah-run PA in the face of such documentation. This, most certainly, is just the beginning.See my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
OUT of ZION Ministries
A Messianic Ministry Based on Mt Carmel
Address: Apt # 2, 9 Sachlav St, Ramat Almogi, Haifa 34792, ISRAEL.
Tel: 972 4 8245590 Email: kiwi@netvision.net.il Website: www.out-of-zion.com
Shalom, shalom dear Friends, Partners and Intercessors.................................................
Josie and I have something that we believe to be very important to share with you all
It is not our normal practise to make appeals for finances. Praise the Lord, that through some of you making regular support donations, He provides for our monthly family needs and ministry expenses. We are deeply grateful for this of course as it enables us to fulfill what the Lord has called us to be and to do.
However this email is an appeal for finances, but not for ourselves. We dont want to tell you what or to where you should give, but we do believe it is scriptually correct to make offerings to Israel. Romans 15:27 For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. (NKJ) and of course Genesis 12:3 is relevant also. Would you please prayerfully consider assisting one of the following projects that are close to our hearts, particularly if you are not already blessing our ministry or any other ministries here in Israel.
Below you will read about 3 very different projects that are in need of your prayers and financial input. They are known to us personally and we can vouch for their integrity.
If you feel led to partner with Pastor Leon in this outreach please email me & I will send you more details - David
Possible Attack on the U.S. Within Ninety Days
FSM Editors - Author: The Editors
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: July 30, 2007
Veteran Israeli Intelligence expert, Juval Aviv, said in recent media interviews that his sources on terror plots directed at the United States indicate that multiple attacks on our homeland are in the final stages of preparation. Read the details.
Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv met recently with reporters at Fox News and revealed information, which he believes is accurate, concerning an imminent Al Qaeda attack on five to seven American cities simultaneously. I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most, said Mr. Aviv.Mr. Aviv knows of that which he speaks. He is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and has also served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of terrorism and security. He is best known as the source of the 1984 book, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, on which Steven Spielberg's film Munich was based. He is also the author of The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide: How to Travel, Work and Live in Safety (2003); and Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business (2004).
Currently, Aviv is the president of Interfor, Inc., a corporate investigations firm in New York City.So it is clear that Aviv has the background and experience in global terror and its operating methods to warrant taking his current warnings seriously. It would be foolish to ignore or minimize this counterterrorism veteran’s expert prognosis. Mr. Aviv told Fox that, from what his sources have been relating, sleeper cells that already have been placed inside the continental United States are on the verge of carrying out major attacks.What they’re going to do, he explained, is hit six, seven or eight cities simultaneously to show sophistication and really hit the public. This time, which is the message of the day, it will not only be big cities. They’re going to try to hit rural America. They want to send a message to rural America: You’re not protected. If you figured out that if you just move out of New York and move to Montana or to Pittsburgh, you’re not immune. We’re going [to] get you wherever we can and it’s easier there than in New York.
While this prediction leaves most Americans feeling helpless, fearful and frustrated, Juval Aviv recommends that we at least do what we can. He suggests that for the next few months, if we are traveling by public transportation, we should equip ourselves with a bottle of water, a hand towel and a flashlight. He reminds us that many fatalities in the London tube and Madrid train attacks occurred from victims who breathed in the lethal fumes from bomb components and burning gasoline. Had these people had wet towels to cover their mouths and noses, they would have had a much better chance of survival.
Mr. Aviv is a very strong proponent of If you See Something – Say Something school of preparedness. He stated that a great number of potentially lethal terror attacks in Israel have been – and still are – thwarted by the intelligent actions on the part of alert, aware and watchful citizens.Americans must do the same, he advises. The global war on terror is not somewhere over there in the Middle East. It is here on our own soil. If ever there were a time to be especially vigilant, the time is now. Let us hope and pray that these vicious enemies and their depraved plans against our citizens and our country, which come out of a wicked ideological brew, will be forestalled and prevented, and the perpetrators apprehended. So far, our law enforcement, military, counter-terrorism and intelligence personnel have done a stellar job. At the same time, and as we all know, we have to be lucky 100% of the time, and the terrorists have to be lucky only once. So stay alert…stay away from crowds…and if you see something, say something! You could save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
GOLDEN, Colo. - A strong earthquake struck Thursday off the coast of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, originating far below the ocean floor. The 7.2 quake, which hit at 4:08 a.m. local time, didn't trigger any tsunamis around the archipelago and little damage was expected because it originated 108 miles beneath the ocean's surface, said Waverly Person, a geophysicist with U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.The earthquake hit 28 miles southeast of the Vanuatu town of Luganville and 1,240 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia.It was the first earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7 in 122 days, he said. Normally a quake in that range can cause buildings to collapse and deaths in populated areas.
A TROPICAL STORM IS BREWING, SEE WHAT HAPPENS AMERICA, USE ARE PUSHING ISRAEL REALLY HARD NOW SO LOOKOUT.
Heavy Rain in Parts of Northeast Texas Save Email Print
Jul 31, 2007 - Reporter: Associated Press
UNDATED — Flooding is a threat after parts of Texas have been hit with heavy rain today.The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Fannin, Lamar and Delta counties.Forecasters say more than three inches of rain fell overnight in parts of Fannin County, with additional rain expected.Meanwhile in South Texas, a flood warning is in effect for stretches of the Frio River and the Nueces River.Parts of Texas are still recovering from heavy rain and flooding going back to mid-June.
Tropical heat headed our way
By Tim Harlow, Star Tribune - July 31, 2007 – 9:11 AM
Here we go again. Another round of hot, sticky, steamy, sunny weather is in store for today and Wednesday with highs in the 90s and dew points soaring into the tropical 60s, the National Weather Service said.The mercury is expected to top out at 92 degrees today and Wednesday with a slight reprieve in store for Thursday with a high of 87 degrees. Tonight's low will be a sultry 71 degrees, and lows in the upper 60s are expected the rest of the week, the Weather Service said.
Rain has been in short supply recently, and the best chance for precipitation will come Wednesday night with a 50 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. A small chance of rain is in the forecast Friday night and Saturday. A slight risk of severe weather is possible over northwest and west central Minnesota Wednesday and Thursday, the Weather Service said.Any precipitation will bring much-needed relief to brown lawns and water-deprived trees and gardens. The seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area is in a severe drought with a precipitation deficit of more than 5 inches since April 1.
As of July 25, Albert Lea was more than 6 inches below normal. Litchfield, in Meeker County, was nearly 7½ inches below normal as was Chaska and many of the western suburbs, the Weather Service said.Some communities, such as Chanhassen, have enacted outdoor watering bans because of the dearth of rainfall.The recent string of sunny, windy days also has escalated the fire danger across the state. With the exception of the southeastern corner of Minnesota, the rest of the state has been placed under a moderate to very high fire danger, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com
United Nations sending 26,000 peacekeeping troops to Darfur
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 05:32 PM By: 680News staff
Toronto - The United Nations security council has unanymously approved a plan to send a 26,000 troop peacekeeping force to Sudan's Darfur region.The UN force will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong au force now on the ground in darfur before the end of the year.The decision comes following a speech from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who described the urgent need to also fight poverty and disease in Africa and around the world.If 30,000 children died needlessly and avoidably evveryday in America or in Britain, we'd call it an emergency, and an emegency is what it is, he stated. The security council backed the peacekeeping force after negotiations secured crucial chinese support.At least 200,000 people have died in Darfur in recent years.
PA Official: Immigration of 40 Paves Way For 18,000
17 Av 5767, August 1, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s concession, allowing 40 decedents of Arabs who left Israel in 1948 to emigrate to Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority officials say they are already working on using the precedent to bring about the immigration of 18,000 Arabs in Iraq to Judea and Samaria.PA Minister of Information Riyad al-Malki told the PA-controlled Maan News Agency that the return of the 40 paves the way for the return of all the Palestinian refugees.
Al-Malki said he contacted Knesset Members and officials in the Olmert regime, but that so far, the Israelis have agreed to let in just a small group of refugees. He promises to continue to work toward allowing tens of thousands more to join them.
July 31, 2007 - Perverse - ARLENE KUSHNER
According to Al-Hayat in London, which cited an Israeli senior government source, Olmert and Abbas have set up a secret channel for discussing final status issues. These include establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the refugee issue, the question of settlements and the future of Jerusalem, although -- according to the report -- there have been no breakthroughs.Olmert's office is denying this. But I have picked up similar inklings from another source and I consider this within the realm of possibility. Those of us who have been monitoring Olmert are aware that he is focused on this: a desire to give away part of the land. He came into office speaking of realignment, which was to be the Judea-Samaria version of the Gaza disengagement. When that didn't play because of the political situation, he pulled back temporarily. Now, with peace talk in the air, he may believe he has the opportunity to give our land to the Palestinians more directly.
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After considerable publicity about Olmert's possible readiness to allow Jordanian regular army forces from the Badr Brigade -- which consists of Bedouins with experience in fighting terrorists -- into Judea and Samaria to help the PA, Jordan has responded: Nothing doing. Said a Jordanian spokesman: To discuss such a notion is shooting down Palestinian aspirations of independent statehood and implies that the Palestinians aren't capable of taking responsibility for their own security. We aren't contemplating anything like that.Translation: We have no intention of getting involved at this level now.
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Round and round we go... But there's no clarity, no sense of anything really happening (because in truth nothing is happening):
The Arab states -- which had presumably been promoting peace via the Arab League initiative (from which the Saudis have since withdrawn) -- are now saying that they're not terribly enthusiastic about Bush's plans for a peace conference. Such an effort, they are saying, should be all-inclusive, meaning that it should work on peace between Syria and Israel at the same time. A new wrinkle. When the Arab governments met in Cairo on Monday to discuss their response to Bush's proposed conference, representatives of Syria stormed out, angry that fellow Arabs would even discuss it. It would, they said, liquidate the Palestinian cause.So much for that. Let's hope.
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A number of terrorist Palestinian groups -- most notably the Palestinian Resistance Committees -- have expressed fury with PA Prime Minister Fayad for dropping the term armed struggle (mukawama) from his newly announced platform. One PRC representative, Abu Abir, said they would target Fayad and his treacherous gang.
We will target them in the field the same way we attack Israel. We promise to put an end to all the American-backed Palestinian personalities in the near future because of their decision to side with the Israeli enemy.And so, guess what?
When Fayad was at the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Monday, he held a press conference and further explained his stand: Palestinians have a right to resist the occupation even if the word mukawama didn't appear in his platform (for semantic reasons and because of the possibility of misunderstandings): What is the essence of resistance, especially in light of the current occupation? Does it not begin with all possible efforts to strengthen the permanence of the Palestinian citizens on their land? That is precisely the government's agenda.Oh. Right. That was a close one for Fayad.
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Word came out from the Lebanese paper An-Nahar the other day that one of the two Israeli soldiers being held by Hezbollah is dead. This information reportedly came from Germans who had been in touch with Christian Lebanese Michael Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah.Israel is not giving this undocumented report credibility. In truth, we just don't know.
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It would seem that Bush has made pretty much of a mess of things with his latest diplomatic gambit. Over the weekend the US announced that it is planning to sell Saudi Arabia $20 billion in advanced weapons systems, including JDAMs that turn regular bombs into smart bombs, which present a potential strategic threat to Israel.
He is doing this to secure Saudi cooperation in Iraq. But it seems fairly short-sighted (exceedingly myopic?) to establish such a policy made in the expectation of an alliance with the Saudis. Of late, they promoted the unity government in Mecca, favoring Hamas; then they withdrew support for the Arab League peace initiative, instead pushing renewed negotiations between Fatah and Hamas, something that the US solidly opposes.
Far more significantly, Saudi Arabia -- home of radical fundamentalist, virulently anti-Shiite Islamic Wahhabism -- is directly connected to terrorism in Iraq. Saudi Arabia has permitted Sunni radicals to cross into Iraq, and has provided funding for them; Wahhabi clerics have encouraged them. The New York Times reports that Of an estimated 60 to 80 foreign fighters who enter Iraq each month, American military and intelligence officials say that nearly half are coming from Saudi Arabia.
And Bush has failed to notice this?
Addressing the issue of how the American government views the Saudis, Stephen Schwartz, a senior policy analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, writes, The (Saudi) kingdom is an unwavering nerve center of ideological indoctrination, incitement, and terrorist financing...Washington needs to end its delusion that the Saudi royal family is a moderating force Saudi Arabia has never been subjugated by the West, instead it has only been cuddled and bribed to ridiculous extremes. And in turn the West has received a torrent of violence and hateful venom.
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Resistance to this sale has been stiffer than Bush had anticipated, for the prospect of increased risk to Israel does not sit well here in Jerusalem or among supporters of Israel in Congress; there is no adequate Israeli defense for these smart bombs.
In an attempt to sweeten the situation, the US has announced an increase in military aid to Israel, from $2.4 to $3 billion annually. Along with this came promises of continuing US commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge and guarantees that limits would be put on the Saudis regarding use of their equipment (restrictions on the range, size and location of the satellite-guided bombs, including a commitment not to store the weapons at air bases close to Israeli territory). Whether the US is truly committed to Israel's qualitative edge remains to be seen. Israel's request to buy the US's most sophisticated stealth bomber has been denied. As to restrictions on the use of the equipment, a report today indicated that this may make it more difficult for Condoleezza Rice to get the Saudis to cooperate publicly with supporting the Israeli-Palestinian process. Is this not unreal?
Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) have announced that they will introduce a joint resolution to block the deal when Congress is formally notified. Said Weiner, The reputation of the Saudis has taken quite a beating since 9/11, and despite the fact that the administration has done everything to portray them as part of the moderate Arab world, members of Congress of both parties are increasingly skeptical.
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A Palestinian Arab was caught at a checkpoint (yup! one of those checkpoints again) near Shechem with 22 pounds of explosives.
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This is an interesting news item: The Prison Service has decided to cancel matriculation exams for Palestinian Arabs in Israeli prisons. Seems there have been several incidents in which Arabs brought in to administer the tests attempted to bring letters to, or accept letters from, the prisoners.
Matriculation exams for Palestinians in Israeli prisons? see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
THE BIBLE SAYS THAT SAUDI ARABIA WOULD BE WITH THE WEST IN THE LAST DAYS. BUT THE ONLY REASON I BELIEVE IS THE OIL SITUATION, THE SAUDIS ARE GETTING RICH...RICH...RICH OF THE WEST.
Saudis may attend Mideast peace talks By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 1, 1:25 PM ET
JERUSALEM - Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would seriously consider attending a Middle East peace conference proposed by the Bush administration for later this year, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began laying the ground work for the regional meeting. The proposed gathering is intended to revive the peace process and would include Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states viewed as moderate by the United States.Speaking during a rare joint visit by Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Jeddah, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said his government would look very closely and very hard at attending if the conference dealt with issues of real substance, not form.
Saud also said Saudi Arabia would explore opening diplomatic relations with the Shiite-led government in Iraq, an endorsement long sought by Washington. Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers have had frosty relations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and has not hidden its suspicions that al-Maliki does not have the interests of Iraq's Sunni minority at heart.A meeting between Israeli and Saudi representatives would be a major diplomatic breakthrough. Though Israel and Saudi Arabia are both U.S. allies, representatives of the countries have never officially met and Saudi Arabia has never recognized the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement Wednesday that Israel hopes many Arab countries will attend this international meeting, including Saudi Arabia.At a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem later Wednesday, Rice said she was encouraged by the attitude that I have seen here among all of the parties about the prospects of this international meeting.
However, Rice said in response to a question about Saudi participation, I think it's too early ... to issue invitations and certainly too early to expect people to say whether they will attend.
Rice's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, part of a wider tour of the U.S.'s regional allies, is her first since the Islamic group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June. Since then, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has run the West Bank with a moderate government led by his Fatah movement, and has won broad international backing while Hamas remains largely isolated.Olmert's office said a regional peace conference would also be able to grant an umbrella to the bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians.Before his meeting with Rice, Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, invited President Bush to visit Israel during its 60th anniversary celebrations next year, saying I truly hope we shall celebrate it in an atmosphere of peace.Rice meets with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday and with leaders of Abbas' U.S.-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank on Thursday.
The Hamas takeover in Gaza has spurred a flurry of peacemaking efforts in the past month aimed at shoring up Palestinian moderates, including a first visit to the region by international Mideast peace envoy Tony Blair and an unprecedented visit to Israel by a delegation from the 22-nation Arab League. That delegation urged Israel to accept an Arab plan offering peace in return for a withdrawal from all land captured in the 1967 Mideast War.Further helping the mood of conciliation are the fears in moderate Arab states about the influence of Hamas' hardline backers in Iran and about al-Qaida's brand of extremist Islam.Israel has carried out several gestures to bolster Abbas, including renewing the transfer of millions of dollars in taxes collected from Palestinians and releasing several hundred Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.Bush's July 16 announcement of a Mideast conference was meant to build on the new momentum and work toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials said it was time to move from gestures to discussing the core issues of the conflict — the borders of the future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees who lost their homes in the fighting that followed Israel's creation in 1948.The main topic will be the political negotiations, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said of Rice's upcoming meetings with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. We don't want a new initiative.Besides Livni and Peres, Rice is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In Rice's meeting with Barak, the two are slated to discuss American plans for a major arms sale to Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, and a parallel boost in defense aid to Israel, Israeli defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. Israel loudly opposed such arms sales in the past but has offered no resistance this time, saying the weapons were needed to offset Iran's military strength.
August 1, 2007 - Snake in the Grass - ARLENE KUSHNER
When it comes to twisting arms, Condoleezza Rice is a world champion, and right now she's on a roll. In Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of her current Middle East tour, she managed, after all, to get the ruling regime to say they would participate in the US-inspired peace conference in the fall. Rice and Secretary of Defense Gates, who is traveling with her, then made a showing at Sharm el-Sheikh for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Co-operation Council. At the press conference at the end of the meeting, she participated in a joint communiqué with Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states that recognized the Arab initiative as one of the foundations for Middle East peace.
Her duplicity is breathtaking. The Arab initiative calls for return to pre-67 borders, return of refugees to Israel, and a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. She would gladly sell us down the river if she imagined this would motivate the Arabs to help extricate the US from Iraq.
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Currently she's here, and meeting with various officials. More arm-twisting. Her goal while in Israel is to get Olmert to make more concessions to strengthen Abbas and advance peace. Or, as one official put it, to move to the next level, which, we've been told, means that Washington is eager to expand the range of things discussed between Olmert and Abbas. Explained an Israeli official, They're more than testing the waters. The Americans are trying to see how much they can expand the envelope of political horizon.Not surprisingly, the US government has been very pleased with recent Israeli government indications of a willingness to pull out of major parts of Judea and Samaria. Now it's a question of just how far Olmert will go.
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I'm waiting, and will wait a very long time, for balanced arm-twisting, with Rice insisting that Abbas has to really dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and stop incitement.
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Said President Shimon Peres today: When Condoleezza Rice arrives in the region she brings hope and freshness, this time more than ever. He declared that because of Rice we are now closer to peace with the Palestinians than ever.
If this weren't so terribly pathetic, it would be funny. A quintessential alternate universe statement that shows total lack of awareness of what's happening on the ground. When Rice arrives in the region, my blood pressure goes up several points.
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Remember all of the material and data that Hamas seized from Fatah in Gaza when they took over? It was inevitable that this would be used to weaken Fatah, and, while it has taken time, indeed, the process is under way.
Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar has just released to the Arabic press evidence of the corruption of the PA under Fatah. There will be more to follow, but the documents released now primarily show bribes, payoffs and similar improper use of funds authorized by Yasser Arafat from 1994 - 2004. There was $40,000 given to a Fatah official for his son's wedding, artwork worth $66,000 given to someone in Paris, etc.
Most damning for the current situation is that fact that some of these improprieties took place while Salaam Fayad, currently PA prime minister, was serving as finance minister under Arafat. Fayad is routinely touted as the cleanest of the PA officials.
Fatah offered two defenses. First, they claimed that the documents were forged. But Arab journalists who were permitted to exam the documents indicated that they seemed quite legitimate, as, I am quite sure they are.
Then a Fatah spokesman charged Hamas with not being able to account for monies it had received. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, if ever there was one. Even if Hamas is guilty of corruption (and all indications are that Hamas is considerably less corrupt than Fatah), this does not remotely absolve Fatah.
What I'm interested in is how the international community will continue to justify support for a Fatah-run PA in the face of such documentation. This, most certainly, is just the beginning.See my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
OUT of ZION Ministries
A Messianic Ministry Based on Mt Carmel
Address: Apt # 2, 9 Sachlav St, Ramat Almogi, Haifa 34792, ISRAEL.
Tel: 972 4 8245590 Email: kiwi@netvision.net.il Website: www.out-of-zion.com
Shalom, shalom dear Friends, Partners and Intercessors.................................................
Josie and I have something that we believe to be very important to share with you all
It is not our normal practise to make appeals for finances. Praise the Lord, that through some of you making regular support donations, He provides for our monthly family needs and ministry expenses. We are deeply grateful for this of course as it enables us to fulfill what the Lord has called us to be and to do.
However this email is an appeal for finances, but not for ourselves. We dont want to tell you what or to where you should give, but we do believe it is scriptually correct to make offerings to Israel. Romans 15:27 For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. (NKJ) and of course Genesis 12:3 is relevant also. Would you please prayerfully consider assisting one of the following projects that are close to our hearts, particularly if you are not already blessing our ministry or any other ministries here in Israel.
Below you will read about 3 very different projects that are in need of your prayers and financial input. They are known to us personally and we can vouch for their integrity.
If you feel led to partner with Pastor Leon in this outreach please email me & I will send you more details - David
Possible Attack on the U.S. Within Ninety Days
FSM Editors - Author: The Editors
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: July 30, 2007
Veteran Israeli Intelligence expert, Juval Aviv, said in recent media interviews that his sources on terror plots directed at the United States indicate that multiple attacks on our homeland are in the final stages of preparation. Read the details.
Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv met recently with reporters at Fox News and revealed information, which he believes is accurate, concerning an imminent Al Qaeda attack on five to seven American cities simultaneously. I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most, said Mr. Aviv.Mr. Aviv knows of that which he speaks. He is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and has also served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of terrorism and security. He is best known as the source of the 1984 book, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, on which Steven Spielberg's film Munich was based. He is also the author of The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide: How to Travel, Work and Live in Safety (2003); and Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business (2004).
Currently, Aviv is the president of Interfor, Inc., a corporate investigations firm in New York City.So it is clear that Aviv has the background and experience in global terror and its operating methods to warrant taking his current warnings seriously. It would be foolish to ignore or minimize this counterterrorism veteran’s expert prognosis. Mr. Aviv told Fox that, from what his sources have been relating, sleeper cells that already have been placed inside the continental United States are on the verge of carrying out major attacks.What they’re going to do, he explained, is hit six, seven or eight cities simultaneously to show sophistication and really hit the public. This time, which is the message of the day, it will not only be big cities. They’re going to try to hit rural America. They want to send a message to rural America: You’re not protected. If you figured out that if you just move out of New York and move to Montana or to Pittsburgh, you’re not immune. We’re going [to] get you wherever we can and it’s easier there than in New York.
While this prediction leaves most Americans feeling helpless, fearful and frustrated, Juval Aviv recommends that we at least do what we can. He suggests that for the next few months, if we are traveling by public transportation, we should equip ourselves with a bottle of water, a hand towel and a flashlight. He reminds us that many fatalities in the London tube and Madrid train attacks occurred from victims who breathed in the lethal fumes from bomb components and burning gasoline. Had these people had wet towels to cover their mouths and noses, they would have had a much better chance of survival.
Mr. Aviv is a very strong proponent of If you See Something – Say Something school of preparedness. He stated that a great number of potentially lethal terror attacks in Israel have been – and still are – thwarted by the intelligent actions on the part of alert, aware and watchful citizens.Americans must do the same, he advises. The global war on terror is not somewhere over there in the Middle East. It is here on our own soil. If ever there were a time to be especially vigilant, the time is now. Let us hope and pray that these vicious enemies and their depraved plans against our citizens and our country, which come out of a wicked ideological brew, will be forestalled and prevented, and the perpetrators apprehended. So far, our law enforcement, military, counter-terrorism and intelligence personnel have done a stellar job. At the same time, and as we all know, we have to be lucky 100% of the time, and the terrorists have to be lucky only once. So stay alert…stay away from crowds…and if you see something, say something! You could save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
RUSSIAS NEW ARMS DEAL WITH IRAN
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Joseph's Tomb synagogue destroyed by Israeli forces
Prime Minister Olmert orders razing of structure built so Jews can pray at Judaism's 3rd holiest site - July 31, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Security forces acting on orders from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday destroyed a synagogue used by Jews to worship near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site and the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph – the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became the viceroy of Egypt. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat's militias, Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area.
The tomb is located near the modern day West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem. Currently, Jewish pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb is legal only several times per year in convoys protected by the Israel Defense Forces. Still, some Jews regularly attempt clandestine visits to the holy site. Jewish students last year built a structure on the West Bank's Mount Gerizim, which is just outside the tomb area. The structure was used as a synagogue and was constructed on the Mount so Jews can pray and study Torah as close to the tomb site as possible. Dozens of Jewish students congregated daily at the makeshift synagogue. But Olmert's office and Israeli government officials deemed the structure – which they refused to call a synagogue – illegal since it was built without a government permit. Building at Joseph's Tomb site after Palestinian Authority took control in 2000.
Yesterday, under direct orders from Olmert, the Israel Civil Lands Administration destroyed the structure. Just before the synagogue was bulldozed, one Jewish student told the Israel National News website, If the synagogue is destroyed, it will be rebuilt.Olmert's decision to single out for demolition the synagogue near Judaism's third holiest site has been called into question by religious leaders here. While Jewish construction projects deemed illegal in Jewish cities in the West Bank is regularly bulldozed by the government, Olmert's office has taken no action against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in illegal outposts in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
WND previously exposed the Israeli government has allowed Palestinians and the United Nations to build illegally on hundreds of acres of Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based Jewish organization, using Jewish donors funds solicited for the purpose of Jewish settlement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live on the Jewish-owned Jerusalem land, which was recently isolated from Jewish sections of Jerusalem by Israel's security barrier.
Yeshiva at third holiest site turned into mosque
The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site. As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan – biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem
Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb.There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years. Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access.
Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost. Six Israeli soldiers were killed and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site. The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a peacemaking gesture. In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence.
Following U.S. mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site on Oct. 6. Gravestone at traditional burial site for biblical patriarch Joseph after it was ransacked by Palestinian mobs. Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior.
Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem). One BBC reporter described the scene: The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd. Palestinians on Oct. 10 began construction of a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color. In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would never allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site. A yeshiva is an institution, said Tarawi. An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them.
Olmert looking at Jordan troops for West Bank: report Mon Jul 30, 3:51 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in favour of Jordanian forces deploying in the occupied West Bank to help Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas fight extremists, a report said on Monday. What Olmert has in mind and what has been raised in recent meetings with Jordan's King Abdullah II... (is) regular Jordanian army troops, Bedouin who have experience fighting terrorism, said the English-language Jerusalem Post, citing unnamed sources.Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin dismissed the report, calling it speculation.
But she said that Olmert is not opposed to the idea of deployment of foreign troops, including from Arab countries, in the West Bank with a view to combating the terrorists of Hamas.The Islamist Hamas overran troops loyal to the moderate Abbas in the Gaza Strip on June 15, splitting the Palestinians into two separate entities, with the Western-backed president ruling over the West Bank and the Western-shunned Islamists in control of Gaza.Following the takeover, Israel has taken several steps aimed at bolstering Abbas in the West Bank and isolating Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state.Israeli media reports in recent months have speculated Jordan's Badr Brigade, made up of 1,500 to 2,000 Palestinians who receive their salaries from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, would be deployed in the West Bank.But Olmert is leaning toward the regular Jordanian troops instead, the Post said.
Visiting Spanish minister sees will to end crisis in Lebanon
By Rym Ghazal Daily Star staff - Tuesday, July 31, 2007
BEIRUT: Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos ended his two-day visit to Lebanon and traveled to Damascus on Monday, as Spain added its efforts to those of the French in trying to resolve Lebanon's nine-month-old political deadlock. There is a Lebanese will to end the crisis, Moratinos told reporters on Monday after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.Following in the footsteps of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Moratinos met with leading Lebanese politicians before heading to Syria later in the day on Monday.Syria is part of the solution and is part of the problem in Lebanon, Moratinos said.Moratinos is expected to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior Syrian officials after pledging in Lebanon to help the Lebanese bring an end to the crisis.
During his two-day visit here, Moratinos also met with Hizbullah number two Sheikh Naim Qassem, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, former President Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Lebanon Abbas Zaki.Moratinos came to Lebanon to inquire about the Lebanese situation and help better understand the means of finding solutions to the ongoing political crisis, Geagea told reporters after meeting with Moratinos.The same sentiments were echoed by Gemayel, who added that hopefully there are no fears of a new civil war in Lebanon because of Syrian and Iranian interference.http://www.dailystar.com.lb
The Lebanese are committed to finding a solution, he said. At the same time, Zaki requested from Moratinos European support for the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon, where the Lebanese Army has been battling militants of Fatah al-Islam for more than two months.It is critical to assist the displaced refugees from the camp with monetary and practical support for the rebuilding of the camp, to allow the displaced to return home as soon as possible, said Zaki.In return, Moratinos expressed his understanding for the Palestinians' plight and said he would try his best to garner European support for the displaced.
In addition to meeting with local politicians, Moratinos also visited the Spanish contingent of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), based in South Lebanon.On Sunday, Moratinos said Spain was strongly engaged both politically and militarily in Lebanon through its contribution to UNIFIL.He said his country had paid a heavy price with the death of six of its soldiers in a car-bomb attack in the South last month, but that it would continue to assume its responsibilities.The six members of the Spanish contingent were killed on June 24 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their armored personnel carrier passed. Under UN Resolution 1701, which ended last summer's 34-day war with Israel, more than 13,000 peacekeepers have been deployed in South Lebanon.
Syria condemns US arms deals
31/07/2007 18:02 - (SA)
Damascus - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem condemned the multi-billion-dollar US arms packages for Washington's Arab allies and Israel on Tuesday as dangerous.
We are before an international conference (proposed) by President Bush. He who wants to make peace does not start out with an arms initiative which is dangerous for the region, Muallem said in reference to the US administration. He who wishes to see a level playing field cannot be partial to one party and isolate another. He has to win the confidence of all the parties concerned, the minister added. Muallem's comments came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates kicked off a regional tour in Egypt seeking to unite Arab allies.
Their visit was preceded by announcements of military packages for key Arab allies and Israel. The pacts are worth $20bn for Saudi Arabia, $13bn for Egypt and $30bn for Israel. Muallem said the move to boost Israeli defence aid by 25 % shows that the United States continues to seek to apply its policy of constructive chaos in the Middle East.
Guarantees of success
US President George W Bush proposed on July 16 holding an international conference on the Middle East peace process, which is expected to be held in September. Muallem said that this proposal needed clear objectives and guarantees of success. Syria, for her part, wants security and stability in the region, he said. We will support any serious effort for peace and stability, but we will resist every effort to liquidate the Palestinian cause, he added following talks with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
Judicial Watch seeks access to meetings of Security and Prosperity Partnership meetings in August - Chad Groening - OneNewsNow.com - July 31, 2007
The public-interest group Judicial Watch has filed a notice with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it wants to attend the upcoming meetings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in Canada. The group, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption, believes the American people have a right to know what's going on inside what it describes as a shadowy organization. The August 20-21 meetings will be conducted in Montebello, Quebec, Canada, by the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), which is the business arm of the SPP. According to Judicial Watch (JW) spokesman Chris Farrell, his group notified the Commerce Secretary that they are seeking access to the records of the NACC and want to attend its meetings under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) -- the federal open meetings law.
We want to be there, attend [the meetings], take notes, see what's going on -- because essentially they've been operating in secret, Farrell charges. They're all documents that are produced after the fact, but we're not sure that they're full, complete, or accurate; nor have we been privy to the actual meetings themselves, the give-and-take, the conversation, the negotiation that goes on in the meetings.
Farrell says the American public has a right to know what is going on during those meetings. The meetings themselves should be open to the public, he asserts. That's why we put Secretary Gutierrez on notice about: that it is our intention to attend and we need him to abide by the law. These folks need to operate in the sunlight and not in the shadows.
Farrell contends the SPP wants to harmonize rules and regulations and laws among Mexico, Canada, and the United States -- something he believes would have an adverse effect on U.S. sovereignty.[Under the SPP] there's one system, one standard, one regulation, one law, one political entity, the JW spokesman explains. It's much more efficient for them, and they can make a lot more money faster and that's really what's driving this initiative.It goes back to sovereignty, he continues. That undermines or calls into question what the United States stands for and who and what we are as a nation.Judicial Watch has requested confirmation of their admittance -- and that of the general public -- to the meetings in Quebec by Friday, August 3. Farrell explains that his group is prepared to go to court in order to have access to those meetings.
JW's request for the NACC's records -- reports, transcripts, minutes, appendixes, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, etc. -- seeks those records in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.American Family News Network.
Jul 31 2007 6:20PM
IAEA faces nuclear dilemma
By Jean-Michel Stoullig, AFP
VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has celebrated its 50th anniversary as it continues to face the dilemma of preventing the spread of nuclear technology for military purposes while condoning it for civilian purposes.In a congratulatory note to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei posted on the agency’s website, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: the IAEA has strived to accelerate and expand its contributions to security and development. I applaud the ceaseless efforts made by the IAEA towards this end.Pope Benedict XVI also praised the UN watchdog’s work: now more than ever, (it is) current and urgent to encourage the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, to promote progressive and negotiated nuclear disarmament and to favour the peaceful and secure use of nuclear technology for the good of people and the environment.The Vienna-based IAEA, which counts 139 member states, was set up in 1957 to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy.It monitors compliance with the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has carried out verification missions in over 70 countries.In 2005, ElBaradei and the IAEA received a Nobel Peace Prize for their work.
But the agency faces a fundamental dilemma as voiced by IAEA Deputy Director General David Waller in a recent speech: On the one hand to develop and facilitate the application of those promising beneficial applications of nuclear technology, and, on the other, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.The West, especially the United States, suspects Iran for instance of seeking nuclear bombs under the cover of a civilian nuclear power programme and the UN Security Council has already imposed two rounds of sanctions on Tehran to get it to suspend enrichment of uranium, a potential material for atom bombs.Iraq, an NPT signatory state, also developed a secret nuclear weapons programme under Saddam Hussein, Waller pointed out in his speech.
But the IAEA scored some successes in 2003 when Libya decided to abandon its nuclear weapons programme and this month when North Korea welcomed agency inspectors back into the country for the first time since December 2002 to monitor the shutdown of its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.Besides the five acknowledged nuclear powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - four other countries have or are believed to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel and Pakistan, which have not signed the NPT, and North Korea.ElBaradei was keen to point out at a conference in South Korea earlier this month however that the IAEA also carries out work in other areas, such as in agriculture and health, using radiation to develop new crop varieties and eliminate insect pests like the tsetse fly.The agency also monitors some 437 nuclear power reactors in 30 countries, which supply about 15.2 percent of the world’s electricity, he said.Special events and exhibits were organised in the run-up to the anniversary but the day itself was celebrated without pomp and circumstance.
Iran biggest threat to Mid-East JULY 31,07
Ms Rice says Iran, not the US is the region's main problem US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Iran poses the biggest threat to US Middle East interests, as she begins a major regional tour. Ms Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates are meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab ministers at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The tour is aimed at uniting US allies against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. It is also trying to win support for a Mid-East peace conference planned for later this year, correspondents say.
Iran spurs US move
Ms Rice held talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and Rice their said discussions included the situations in Iraq and Lebanon, and the prospects for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. Ms Rice said the US was making sure its allies in the region were well protected after Iran accused the US of trying to spread fear and mistrust. The United States is determined to assure our allies that we are going to be reliable in helping them to meet their security needs. We have a lot of interests in common in this region: in the fight against terrorism and extremism; in protecting the gains of peace processes of the past and in extending those gains to peace processes of the future, she said. Earlier, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini accused the US of tarnishing good relations between countries in the region.
Iran's nuclear programme and influence among Shia Muslim militant groups have long been sources of US concern. During a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, Ms Rice told reporters: There isn't a doubt, I think, that Iran constitutes the single most important, single-country challenge to... US interests in the Middle East and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see.The trip is the two officials' first joint tour of the region. They will visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia together, and other countries separately.
Mr Gates told reporters travelling with him that US officials wanted to reassure all of the countries that the policies that (US President George W Bush) pursues in Iraq have had and will continue to have regional stability and security as a very high priority.
Congressional opposition
The meetings come after Washington confirmed plans for a massive arms deal for the region. The main beneficiaries of the deals are Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The $30bn aid to Israel over 10 years represents a 25% increase from present levels.
US ARMS DEAL BENEFICIARIES
Israel - $30bn
Egypt - $13bn
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and UAE - to share $20bn
The Jewish state said the package would allow it to maintain its military qualitative edge in the region. The sale of satellite-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, the first such sale to any Arab country, is thought to be part of the proposed $20bn arms deal with the kingdom and other Gulf states - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. During their lobbying tour of the region, Ms Rice and Mr Gates are expected to ask Saudi King Abdullah to do more to support the Iraqi government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, has gone as far as accusing Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise Iraq. The weapons deals need to be approved by Congress, and appear set to encounter opposition. Two Democratic congressmen, Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said at the weekend they would introduce legislation to block military aid to Saudi Arabia.
RUSSIA'S NEW ARMS DEAL WITH IRAN
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(DENVER, COLORADO, July 31, 2007) -- Russia and Iran continue to strengthen their military ties, while Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continue to draw closer as strategic allies.
In December 2005, Russia sold Iran $1 billion worth of missiles, after years of selling submarines and other advanced weapons systems to the radical Islamic regime. The latest reports indicate that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal. What's more, the Jerusalem Post indicates that in addition to the fighter jets, Teheran also plans to purchase a number of aerial fuel tankers that are compatible with the Sukhoi and capable of extending its range by thousands of kilometers. Israeli defense officials say the deal will give the radical Iranian regime enhanced long-range offensive capabilities.
The U.S., meanwhile, has offered Israel some $30 billion in new weapons over the next ten years, an increase in military aid from $2.4 billion to $3 billion a year. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice says the U.S. is also offering military aid packages to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and several Gulf states (the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) to bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran she said. Israeli officials, however, are concerned by the U.S. offer of $20 billion in weapons to the Saudis. They note that should there be an overthrow of the current Saudi regime, such advanced weaponry could fall into the hands of radical Islamic jihadists.
Russia's arms sales to Iran should raise alarms inside the White House and among Congressional leaders. Russia under Putin's leadership has joined the Axis of Evil, selling dangerous weapons systems not just to Iran but to North Korea in recent years as well. But is something else happening, too?
As we explain in the new Epicenter DVD, a growing number of evangelicals are concerned that the intensifying military and political alliance between Russia and Iran could be a sign of the approaching fulfillment of the prophecies found in Ezekiel 38-39, what Bible scholars describe as the War of Gog and Magog. After all Ezekiel 36-37 foretold the rebirth of the State of Israel in the last days, the Jewish people returning to the Holy Land after centuries of exile, and the rebuilding of the ancient ruins in the Promised Land. Sure enough, all of this has come true in the past six decades, thus raising the possibility that Ezekiel 38-39 could come true in our lifetime as well.
Let me be clear: I believe it is too soon to draw such a definitive conclusion that the fulfillment of these prophecies are immiment. Still, it is true that until now, Russia and Iran have not had an alliance of the sort the Bible foretold in the 2,500 years since Ezekiel wrote the prophecies. It is also true that this alliance is heating up quite quickly now. It is not surprising, therefore, that interest in these prophecies are growing. It's a story worth watching closely.
Joseph's Tomb synagogue destroyed by Israeli forces
Prime Minister Olmert orders razing of structure built so Jews can pray at Judaism's 3rd holiest site - July 31, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Security forces acting on orders from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday destroyed a synagogue used by Jews to worship near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site and the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph – the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became the viceroy of Egypt. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat's militias, Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area.
The tomb is located near the modern day West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem. Currently, Jewish pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb is legal only several times per year in convoys protected by the Israel Defense Forces. Still, some Jews regularly attempt clandestine visits to the holy site. Jewish students last year built a structure on the West Bank's Mount Gerizim, which is just outside the tomb area. The structure was used as a synagogue and was constructed on the Mount so Jews can pray and study Torah as close to the tomb site as possible. Dozens of Jewish students congregated daily at the makeshift synagogue. But Olmert's office and Israeli government officials deemed the structure – which they refused to call a synagogue – illegal since it was built without a government permit. Building at Joseph's Tomb site after Palestinian Authority took control in 2000.
Yesterday, under direct orders from Olmert, the Israel Civil Lands Administration destroyed the structure. Just before the synagogue was bulldozed, one Jewish student told the Israel National News website, If the synagogue is destroyed, it will be rebuilt.Olmert's decision to single out for demolition the synagogue near Judaism's third holiest site has been called into question by religious leaders here. While Jewish construction projects deemed illegal in Jewish cities in the West Bank is regularly bulldozed by the government, Olmert's office has taken no action against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in illegal outposts in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
WND previously exposed the Israeli government has allowed Palestinians and the United Nations to build illegally on hundreds of acres of Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based Jewish organization, using Jewish donors funds solicited for the purpose of Jewish settlement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live on the Jewish-owned Jerusalem land, which was recently isolated from Jewish sections of Jerusalem by Israel's security barrier.
Yeshiva at third holiest site turned into mosque
The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site. As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan – biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem
Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb.There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years. Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access.
Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost. Six Israeli soldiers were killed and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site. The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a peacemaking gesture. In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence.
Following U.S. mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site on Oct. 6. Gravestone at traditional burial site for biblical patriarch Joseph after it was ransacked by Palestinian mobs. Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior.
Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem). One BBC reporter described the scene: The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd. Palestinians on Oct. 10 began construction of a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color. In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would never allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site. A yeshiva is an institution, said Tarawi. An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them.
Olmert looking at Jordan troops for West Bank: report Mon Jul 30, 3:51 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in favour of Jordanian forces deploying in the occupied West Bank to help Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas fight extremists, a report said on Monday. What Olmert has in mind and what has been raised in recent meetings with Jordan's King Abdullah II... (is) regular Jordanian army troops, Bedouin who have experience fighting terrorism, said the English-language Jerusalem Post, citing unnamed sources.Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin dismissed the report, calling it speculation.
But she said that Olmert is not opposed to the idea of deployment of foreign troops, including from Arab countries, in the West Bank with a view to combating the terrorists of Hamas.The Islamist Hamas overran troops loyal to the moderate Abbas in the Gaza Strip on June 15, splitting the Palestinians into two separate entities, with the Western-backed president ruling over the West Bank and the Western-shunned Islamists in control of Gaza.Following the takeover, Israel has taken several steps aimed at bolstering Abbas in the West Bank and isolating Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state.Israeli media reports in recent months have speculated Jordan's Badr Brigade, made up of 1,500 to 2,000 Palestinians who receive their salaries from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, would be deployed in the West Bank.But Olmert is leaning toward the regular Jordanian troops instead, the Post said.
Visiting Spanish minister sees will to end crisis in Lebanon
By Rym Ghazal Daily Star staff - Tuesday, July 31, 2007
BEIRUT: Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos ended his two-day visit to Lebanon and traveled to Damascus on Monday, as Spain added its efforts to those of the French in trying to resolve Lebanon's nine-month-old political deadlock. There is a Lebanese will to end the crisis, Moratinos told reporters on Monday after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.Following in the footsteps of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Moratinos met with leading Lebanese politicians before heading to Syria later in the day on Monday.Syria is part of the solution and is part of the problem in Lebanon, Moratinos said.Moratinos is expected to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior Syrian officials after pledging in Lebanon to help the Lebanese bring an end to the crisis.
During his two-day visit here, Moratinos also met with Hizbullah number two Sheikh Naim Qassem, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, former President Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Lebanon Abbas Zaki.Moratinos came to Lebanon to inquire about the Lebanese situation and help better understand the means of finding solutions to the ongoing political crisis, Geagea told reporters after meeting with Moratinos.The same sentiments were echoed by Gemayel, who added that hopefully there are no fears of a new civil war in Lebanon because of Syrian and Iranian interference.http://www.dailystar.com.lb
The Lebanese are committed to finding a solution, he said. At the same time, Zaki requested from Moratinos European support for the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon, where the Lebanese Army has been battling militants of Fatah al-Islam for more than two months.It is critical to assist the displaced refugees from the camp with monetary and practical support for the rebuilding of the camp, to allow the displaced to return home as soon as possible, said Zaki.In return, Moratinos expressed his understanding for the Palestinians' plight and said he would try his best to garner European support for the displaced.
In addition to meeting with local politicians, Moratinos also visited the Spanish contingent of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), based in South Lebanon.On Sunday, Moratinos said Spain was strongly engaged both politically and militarily in Lebanon through its contribution to UNIFIL.He said his country had paid a heavy price with the death of six of its soldiers in a car-bomb attack in the South last month, but that it would continue to assume its responsibilities.The six members of the Spanish contingent were killed on June 24 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their armored personnel carrier passed. Under UN Resolution 1701, which ended last summer's 34-day war with Israel, more than 13,000 peacekeepers have been deployed in South Lebanon.
Syria condemns US arms deals
31/07/2007 18:02 - (SA)
Damascus - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem condemned the multi-billion-dollar US arms packages for Washington's Arab allies and Israel on Tuesday as dangerous.
We are before an international conference (proposed) by President Bush. He who wants to make peace does not start out with an arms initiative which is dangerous for the region, Muallem said in reference to the US administration. He who wishes to see a level playing field cannot be partial to one party and isolate another. He has to win the confidence of all the parties concerned, the minister added. Muallem's comments came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates kicked off a regional tour in Egypt seeking to unite Arab allies.
Their visit was preceded by announcements of military packages for key Arab allies and Israel. The pacts are worth $20bn for Saudi Arabia, $13bn for Egypt and $30bn for Israel. Muallem said the move to boost Israeli defence aid by 25 % shows that the United States continues to seek to apply its policy of constructive chaos in the Middle East.
Guarantees of success
US President George W Bush proposed on July 16 holding an international conference on the Middle East peace process, which is expected to be held in September. Muallem said that this proposal needed clear objectives and guarantees of success. Syria, for her part, wants security and stability in the region, he said. We will support any serious effort for peace and stability, but we will resist every effort to liquidate the Palestinian cause, he added following talks with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
Judicial Watch seeks access to meetings of Security and Prosperity Partnership meetings in August - Chad Groening - OneNewsNow.com - July 31, 2007
The public-interest group Judicial Watch has filed a notice with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it wants to attend the upcoming meetings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in Canada. The group, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption, believes the American people have a right to know what's going on inside what it describes as a shadowy organization. The August 20-21 meetings will be conducted in Montebello, Quebec, Canada, by the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), which is the business arm of the SPP. According to Judicial Watch (JW) spokesman Chris Farrell, his group notified the Commerce Secretary that they are seeking access to the records of the NACC and want to attend its meetings under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) -- the federal open meetings law.
We want to be there, attend [the meetings], take notes, see what's going on -- because essentially they've been operating in secret, Farrell charges. They're all documents that are produced after the fact, but we're not sure that they're full, complete, or accurate; nor have we been privy to the actual meetings themselves, the give-and-take, the conversation, the negotiation that goes on in the meetings.
Farrell says the American public has a right to know what is going on during those meetings. The meetings themselves should be open to the public, he asserts. That's why we put Secretary Gutierrez on notice about: that it is our intention to attend and we need him to abide by the law. These folks need to operate in the sunlight and not in the shadows.
Farrell contends the SPP wants to harmonize rules and regulations and laws among Mexico, Canada, and the United States -- something he believes would have an adverse effect on U.S. sovereignty.[Under the SPP] there's one system, one standard, one regulation, one law, one political entity, the JW spokesman explains. It's much more efficient for them, and they can make a lot more money faster and that's really what's driving this initiative.It goes back to sovereignty, he continues. That undermines or calls into question what the United States stands for and who and what we are as a nation.Judicial Watch has requested confirmation of their admittance -- and that of the general public -- to the meetings in Quebec by Friday, August 3. Farrell explains that his group is prepared to go to court in order to have access to those meetings.
JW's request for the NACC's records -- reports, transcripts, minutes, appendixes, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, etc. -- seeks those records in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.American Family News Network.
Jul 31 2007 6:20PM
IAEA faces nuclear dilemma
By Jean-Michel Stoullig, AFP
VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has celebrated its 50th anniversary as it continues to face the dilemma of preventing the spread of nuclear technology for military purposes while condoning it for civilian purposes.In a congratulatory note to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei posted on the agency’s website, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: the IAEA has strived to accelerate and expand its contributions to security and development. I applaud the ceaseless efforts made by the IAEA towards this end.Pope Benedict XVI also praised the UN watchdog’s work: now more than ever, (it is) current and urgent to encourage the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, to promote progressive and negotiated nuclear disarmament and to favour the peaceful and secure use of nuclear technology for the good of people and the environment.The Vienna-based IAEA, which counts 139 member states, was set up in 1957 to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy.It monitors compliance with the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has carried out verification missions in over 70 countries.In 2005, ElBaradei and the IAEA received a Nobel Peace Prize for their work.
But the agency faces a fundamental dilemma as voiced by IAEA Deputy Director General David Waller in a recent speech: On the one hand to develop and facilitate the application of those promising beneficial applications of nuclear technology, and, on the other, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.The West, especially the United States, suspects Iran for instance of seeking nuclear bombs under the cover of a civilian nuclear power programme and the UN Security Council has already imposed two rounds of sanctions on Tehran to get it to suspend enrichment of uranium, a potential material for atom bombs.Iraq, an NPT signatory state, also developed a secret nuclear weapons programme under Saddam Hussein, Waller pointed out in his speech.
But the IAEA scored some successes in 2003 when Libya decided to abandon its nuclear weapons programme and this month when North Korea welcomed agency inspectors back into the country for the first time since December 2002 to monitor the shutdown of its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.Besides the five acknowledged nuclear powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - four other countries have or are believed to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel and Pakistan, which have not signed the NPT, and North Korea.ElBaradei was keen to point out at a conference in South Korea earlier this month however that the IAEA also carries out work in other areas, such as in agriculture and health, using radiation to develop new crop varieties and eliminate insect pests like the tsetse fly.The agency also monitors some 437 nuclear power reactors in 30 countries, which supply about 15.2 percent of the world’s electricity, he said.Special events and exhibits were organised in the run-up to the anniversary but the day itself was celebrated without pomp and circumstance.
Iran biggest threat to Mid-East JULY 31,07
Ms Rice says Iran, not the US is the region's main problem US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Iran poses the biggest threat to US Middle East interests, as she begins a major regional tour. Ms Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates are meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab ministers at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The tour is aimed at uniting US allies against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. It is also trying to win support for a Mid-East peace conference planned for later this year, correspondents say.
Iran spurs US move
Ms Rice held talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and Rice their said discussions included the situations in Iraq and Lebanon, and the prospects for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. Ms Rice said the US was making sure its allies in the region were well protected after Iran accused the US of trying to spread fear and mistrust. The United States is determined to assure our allies that we are going to be reliable in helping them to meet their security needs. We have a lot of interests in common in this region: in the fight against terrorism and extremism; in protecting the gains of peace processes of the past and in extending those gains to peace processes of the future, she said. Earlier, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini accused the US of tarnishing good relations between countries in the region.
Iran's nuclear programme and influence among Shia Muslim militant groups have long been sources of US concern. During a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, Ms Rice told reporters: There isn't a doubt, I think, that Iran constitutes the single most important, single-country challenge to... US interests in the Middle East and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see.The trip is the two officials' first joint tour of the region. They will visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia together, and other countries separately.
Mr Gates told reporters travelling with him that US officials wanted to reassure all of the countries that the policies that (US President George W Bush) pursues in Iraq have had and will continue to have regional stability and security as a very high priority.
Congressional opposition
The meetings come after Washington confirmed plans for a massive arms deal for the region. The main beneficiaries of the deals are Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The $30bn aid to Israel over 10 years represents a 25% increase from present levels.
US ARMS DEAL BENEFICIARIES
Israel - $30bn
Egypt - $13bn
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and UAE - to share $20bn
The Jewish state said the package would allow it to maintain its military qualitative edge in the region. The sale of satellite-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, the first such sale to any Arab country, is thought to be part of the proposed $20bn arms deal with the kingdom and other Gulf states - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. During their lobbying tour of the region, Ms Rice and Mr Gates are expected to ask Saudi King Abdullah to do more to support the Iraqi government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, has gone as far as accusing Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise Iraq. The weapons deals need to be approved by Congress, and appear set to encounter opposition. Two Democratic congressmen, Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said at the weekend they would introduce legislation to block military aid to Saudi Arabia.
RUSSIA'S NEW ARMS DEAL WITH IRAN
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(DENVER, COLORADO, July 31, 2007) -- Russia and Iran continue to strengthen their military ties, while Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continue to draw closer as strategic allies.
In December 2005, Russia sold Iran $1 billion worth of missiles, after years of selling submarines and other advanced weapons systems to the radical Islamic regime. The latest reports indicate that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal. What's more, the Jerusalem Post indicates that in addition to the fighter jets, Teheran also plans to purchase a number of aerial fuel tankers that are compatible with the Sukhoi and capable of extending its range by thousands of kilometers. Israeli defense officials say the deal will give the radical Iranian regime enhanced long-range offensive capabilities.
The U.S., meanwhile, has offered Israel some $30 billion in new weapons over the next ten years, an increase in military aid from $2.4 billion to $3 billion a year. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice says the U.S. is also offering military aid packages to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and several Gulf states (the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) to bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran she said. Israeli officials, however, are concerned by the U.S. offer of $20 billion in weapons to the Saudis. They note that should there be an overthrow of the current Saudi regime, such advanced weaponry could fall into the hands of radical Islamic jihadists.
Russia's arms sales to Iran should raise alarms inside the White House and among Congressional leaders. Russia under Putin's leadership has joined the Axis of Evil, selling dangerous weapons systems not just to Iran but to North Korea in recent years as well. But is something else happening, too?
As we explain in the new Epicenter DVD, a growing number of evangelicals are concerned that the intensifying military and political alliance between Russia and Iran could be a sign of the approaching fulfillment of the prophecies found in Ezekiel 38-39, what Bible scholars describe as the War of Gog and Magog. After all Ezekiel 36-37 foretold the rebirth of the State of Israel in the last days, the Jewish people returning to the Holy Land after centuries of exile, and the rebuilding of the ancient ruins in the Promised Land. Sure enough, all of this has come true in the past six decades, thus raising the possibility that Ezekiel 38-39 could come true in our lifetime as well.
Let me be clear: I believe it is too soon to draw such a definitive conclusion that the fulfillment of these prophecies are immiment. Still, it is true that until now, Russia and Iran have not had an alliance of the sort the Bible foretold in the 2,500 years since Ezekiel wrote the prophecies. It is also true that this alliance is heating up quite quickly now. It is not surprising, therefore, that interest in these prophecies are growing. It's a story worth watching closely.
Monday, July 30, 2007
ICE BLOCK FALLS THROUGH ROOF
REVELATION 16:21
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone the weight of a talent(80-120 pounds):men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail;for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
WELL YOU WILL READ BIBLE PROPHECY COMING TO PASS IN THE STORY BELOW. IN IOWA A 50 LB BLOCK OF ICE FELL THROUGH A LADIES ROOF. IN THE FUTURE DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AT LEAST TWICE THIS SIZE WILL BE DROPPING ON PEOPLE.
Giant Ice Block Falls Through Dubuque Roof JULY 30,07
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) Large chunks of ice fell from the sky Thursday in Dubuque, smashing through a woman's roof and tearing through nearby trees. Authorities are unsure of the ice's origin. However, they have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere both rare occurrences. 78-year-old Jan Kenkel says she was standing in her kitchen when an ice chunk crashed through her roof at about 5:30 a.m. She traced the damage to her television room, where she found a messy pile of insulation, bits of ceiling, and about 50 pounds of solid ice.
Other neighbors reported similar chunks outside. Elizabeth Cory is a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. She says the ice may have fallen from an airplane but that it rarely happens. Cory says investigators will contact Kenkel to try to determine the source of the ice.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone the weight of a talent(80-120 pounds):men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail;for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
WELL YOU WILL READ BIBLE PROPHECY COMING TO PASS IN THE STORY BELOW. IN IOWA A 50 LB BLOCK OF ICE FELL THROUGH A LADIES ROOF. IN THE FUTURE DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AT LEAST TWICE THIS SIZE WILL BE DROPPING ON PEOPLE.
Giant Ice Block Falls Through Dubuque Roof JULY 30,07
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) Large chunks of ice fell from the sky Thursday in Dubuque, smashing through a woman's roof and tearing through nearby trees. Authorities are unsure of the ice's origin. However, they have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere both rare occurrences. 78-year-old Jan Kenkel says she was standing in her kitchen when an ice chunk crashed through her roof at about 5:30 a.m. She traced the damage to her television room, where she found a messy pile of insulation, bits of ceiling, and about 50 pounds of solid ice.
Other neighbors reported similar chunks outside. Elizabeth Cory is a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. She says the ice may have fallen from an airplane but that it rarely happens. Cory says investigators will contact Kenkel to try to determine the source of the ice.
CAN ISRAEL BE SAVED
Syria: Spanish foreign minister in Tuesday visit JULY 30,07
Damascus, 30 July (AKI) - Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is scheduled to visit Syria on Tuesday where he will meet Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.Moratinos who was in Lebanon on Monday will also hold talks in Damascus with Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Muallim.Discussions are set to focus on the long-stalled Middle East peace initiative and in particular Israeli-Syrian relations.
Moratinos has expressed Spain's support for an Arab League-sponsored plan that sees Arab states giving Israel full recognition in exchange if the Jewish state returns occupied land including the Golan Heights to Syria.
Moratinos' Syrian stop-over is part of a regional tour including Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.Moratinos paid several visits to Syria last year while his counterpart Muallim travelled to Spain last month. During the visit he handed a letter from Assad to Spain's King Juan Carlos in which the Syrian leader briefed the monarch on bi-lateral relations and on the situation in the Middle East.Spain and Italy - through its foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema who recently visited Damascus - have been spearheading the European Union's indirect efforts to bring Damascus into the peace process.The EU downscaled relations with Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a crime in which a United Nations investigators have implicated Syrian security officials.
Can Israel Be Saved?
July 30,2007 - By Robert Muchnick
Manhigut Yehudit USA
rmuchnick@manhigut.org
All of us American Jews look across the ocean at our beloved State of Israel and we wonder What went wrong? and How can it be fixed? Or we even dare to whisper, Can it be saved?
Israel is faced with a seemingly endless string of enemies bent on its destruction - from Hamas to the so-called moderate PLO, from Hizballah to Syria , and now to nuclear-bound Iran . This situation would be depressing enough for most of us, but what makes it worse is the fact that all of Israel 's politicians and leaders are plagued by corruption, scandals and/or complete and utter ineptitude. In a recent poll, Israel 's current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received an approval rating of below 1%. That's right - below 1%. Yet somehow, he manages to stay in office because his Kadima party and the other parties in the government refuse to vote him out of office because they would most surely lose their comfortable Knesset seats and the perks that go along with them if they did.
Olmert even tries to hang onto office by proposing further Israeli withdrawals from Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) and the Golan Heights to make him appear as a successful peacemaker, even though it is obvious to all that the concept of evicting Jews from their homes such as was done in 2005 from Gaza was a complete failure and only put Israel in a much worse strategic position than it was in previously. Let's also not forget to mention that Ariel Sharon's Disengagement has produced 10,000 Jewish refugees in their own country who are being treated worse than the government treats endangered salamanders, and it brought death and its daily specter to thousands of Israelis who live in cities surrounding Gaza by way of Arab rockets falling daily on them which the government refuses to answer in a serious way.
How can it be fixed when according to recent polls, the majority of non-observant Israeli teens can't even recite the Shema, and three-quarters of them have never set foot anywhere in the city of Jerusalem by the time they enter the army at 18 years of age? Unbelievable as it may seem, these numbers are true! Is it any wonder that the majority of non-observant Israelis actually believe that their country won't exist in 30 years. Should we all heed the unbelievable advice given last month by former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg who told all Israeli Jews to get foreign passports, eliminate the Jewish right of return to Israel , and make Israel into a bi-national state - i.e. an Arab state - immediately, or do we have a Jewish answer to this cesspool of problems?
There is hope!
There is one man who is trying to lead the country who has real answers to these very real problems, and on August 14th, the Likud party will be able to choose him to run for Prime Minister. As all Israeli polls show the Likud party winning the next general election, in essence the Likud's August 14 primary is really to choose the next Prime Minister of the State of Israel.Moshe Feiglin is the President of Manhigut Yehudit, which in English means Jewish Leadership, the largest bloc inside the Likud Party of Israel . Mr. Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit were invited into the Likud party in 2001, as veteran Likudniks felt that the Likud party had abandoned its ideology and they felt that Mr. Feiglin would be the one to bring it back. They surely felt this way because during the early good years of the peace process, Mr. Feiglin and his predecessor organization, Zo Artzeinu (This is Our Land), were the first to introduce the concept of non-violent civil disobedience into Israel in such a way as Martin Luther King had done so in America during the 1960's.
Even though the Likud has only continued the shameful Oslo farce, the Likud's official charter still calls for Jewish annexation of and settlement of the entire Land of Israel along with the country being run by Jewish Values. Manhigut Yehudit joined Likud because it agreed with these core Likud principles, and because most Prime Ministers come from the Likud party. As such, Mr. Feiglin decided that in order to lead the entire State of Israel from the Prime Minister's office, the best way to do this would be through the Likud party.In the previous Likud primary for head of the party, and therefore for candidate for Prime Minister, Mr. Feiglin finished in 3rd place out of 7 with 13% of the vote. According to current polls for the upcoming August 14 Likud primary, Mr. Feiglin now is polling very strongly and trails only former PM and Oslo-continuer and Disengagement-supporter Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu only this summer stated that he advocates bringing Jordanian troops into Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) in order to strengthen the palestinian moderate Mahmoud Abbas in order to help Abbas create another Arab state inside of the Land of Israel . Aside from ignoring Abbas' credentials as Yasser Arafat's right-hand man for 40 years, his being the author of the PLO's phased plan for the destruction of Israel in stages (the first stage being negotiations), and ignoring his direct ties to the Nazi genocide by way of his mentor the Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al Husseini (who created Bosnian SS Divisions for Hitler and drew plans for another Auschwitz in Israel), Netanyahu's vision is just a continuation of the suicidal policies of the Left. Hasn't he seen the direct correlation between the amount of land that Israel gives to its enemies and the amount of Jews who are murdered? Don't we deserve better than this?
Manhigut Yehudit's all-encompassing mission is to perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty....by awakening and revitalizing Israeli society in its connection and bond to its Jewish roots, national history and the Land of Israel . Manhigut Yehudit's unmistakable message of Jewish Values, Jewish Pride, and Social and Judicial reforms strives to turn the State of Jews into the Jewish State.Before we go any further, let's take a look at Manhigut Yehudit's policy lines to see how Moshe Feiglin as Prime Minister plans on accomplishing this goal:
A Jewish State: The State of Israel is the instrument for establishing the sovereignty of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel . Massive government funding to bring ALL Jews home.
Education towards Love of Israel , Torah and the Land: Education for ALL Israelis based on Jewish values, taught with love and not through coercion. One hour per day of Judaism will be taught in schools. Currently there is NO Jewish education in schools.
Liberation of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount: We shall foster Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and build a synagogue and study hall for the Sanhedrin on the Temple Mount where permitted by Jewish Law. Sovereignty of the Temple Mount will be taken from the Islamic Wakf and given back to the Jewish People.
Cancellation of the Oslo Accords and Immediate Annexation of Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza : Honoring the Biblical covenant between the Nation of Israel and the Creator of the world, we shall immediately annex all territory in our hands, settle EVERY part of the Land of Israel and terminate the Oslo Accords. This plan also honors the philosophy of common sense - namely since the Arabs have attacked us and lost these territories, they deserve to pay a penalty. As such, they will never recover these territories. We believe in the policy of Peace for Peace, not Land for Peace, which has been proven not to work.
Renewal of Democracy and the Justice System on the Basis of National Values: A constitution based on Jewish values shall be enacted to preserve Israel as a Jewish country (yet not to legislate or mandate religious practice), to protect the human and civil rights of all its faithful residents, and to protect the political rights of its Jews.
Jewish Labor for an Effective, Creative and Moral Economy: Jewish labor will be encouraged, with vocational training during the third year of army service and the removal of foreign workers. We will strive to build all our military necessities and not purchase them from the US and elsewhere.
Energy & Financial Independence: We will initiate a massively government funded and directed plan to develop non-petroleum-based energy sources so as to provide ourselves and the world with clean, abundant energy which will provide us and not our enemies with funding. We will also end the acceptance of aid from America (it comprises only 2.5% of Israel's GNP), as it is a drag on Israel's economy, costs Israel 100,000 jobs and costs Israel its real or perceived sovereignty.
Returning Moral Strength and Power of Deterrence to Israel 's Army: The Israeli Army must not be concerned with world opinion, must strike first when required, and will be enabled to defeat and destroy Israel 's enemies.
The upcoming Likud primary will be held in a few weeks on August 14th. Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit hope to make this election one that will reverberate around the globe with the hope that the Jewish People will not lie down in the face of their problems anymore, but that they will stand up and defeat them with their heads held high, and they will lead the world to victory.Won't you help us make this very worthwhile dream into a reality?
To learn more about Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) and to get involved in making a better future for Israel , visit www.jewishisrael.org .
Tova Abady
Media Liaison
917-301-0997 (cell)
simplefaith2002@yahoo.com
I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE SO CALLED CHRISTIANS, THESE REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY BELIEVERS GIVING GEORGE W A LETTER OF THANKS FOR GIVING THE ARABS A STATE OF THEIR OWN. HOGWASH READ THE BIBLE LUKEWARMERS ITS ISSAIC S LAND (ISRAEL) NOT ISHMAELS (ARABS), THIS JUST MAKES ME SICK.
Letter to President Bush From Evangelical Leaders
DiggFacebookNewsvinePermalink - July 29, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write as evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to thank you for your efforts (including the major address on July 16) to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We affirm your clear call for a two-state solution. We urge that your administration not grow weary in the time it has left in office to utilize the vast influence of America to demonstrate creative, consistent and determined U.S. leadership to create a new future for Israelis and Palestinians. We pray to that end, Mr. President.
We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region.
As evangelical Christians, we embrace the biblical promise to Abraham: I will bless those who bless you. (Genesis 12:3). And precisely as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures, we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted. Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our neighbors. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.
Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine. Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other. The only way to bring the tragic cycle of violence to an end is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just, lasting agreement that guarantees both sides viable, independent, secure states. To achieve that goal, both sides must give up some of their competing, incompatible claims. Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other's right to exist. And to achieve that goal, the U.S. must provide robust leadership within the Quartet to reconstitute the Middle East roadmap, whose full implementation would guarantee the security of the State of Israel and the viability of a Palestinian State. We affirm the new role of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and pray that the conference you plan for this fall will be a success.
Mr. President, we renew our prayers and support for your leadership to help bring peace to Jerusalem, and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land.
Finally, we would request to meet with you to personally convey our support and discuss other ways in which we may help your administration on this crucial issue.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Sider, President
Evangelicals for Social Action
Don Argue, President
Northwest University
Raymond J. Bakke, Chancellor
Bakke Graduate University
Gary M. Benedict, President
The Christian & Missionary Alliance
George K. Brushaber, President
Bethel University
Gary M. Burge, Professor
Wheaton College & Graduate School
Tony Campolo, President/Founder
Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education
Christopher J. Doyle, CEO
American Leprosy Mission
Leighton Ford, President
Leighton Ford Ministries
Daniel Grothe, Pastoral Staff
New Life Church (Colorado Springs)
Vernon Grounds, Chancellor
Denver Seminary
Stephen Hayner, former President
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor
Northland Church
Member, Executive Committee of the NAE
Jo Anne Lyon, Founder/CEO
World Hope International
Gordon MacDonald, Chair of the Board
World Relief
Albert G. Miller, Professor
Oberlin College
Richard Mouw, President
Fuller Theological Seminary
David Neff, Editor
Christianity Today
Glenn R. Palmberg, President
Evangelical Covenant Church
Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor
University Presbyterian Church Seattle
Victor D. Pentz, Pastor
Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta
John Perkins, President
John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation & Development
Bob Roberts, Jr., Senior Pastor
Northwood Church, Dallas
Leonard Rogers, Executive Director
Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Andrew Ryskamp, Executive Director
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Chris Seiple, President
Institute for Global Engagement
Robert A. Seiple, Former Ambassador-at-Large,
International Religious Freedom
U.S. State Department
Luci N. Shaw, Author, Lecturer
Regent College, Vancouver
Jim Skillen, Executive Director
Center for Public Justice
Glen Harold Stassen, Professor
Fuller Theological Seminary
Richard Stearns, President
World Vision
Clyde D. Taylor, Former Chair of the Board
World Relief
Harold Vogelaar, Director
Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice
Berten Waggoner, National Director
Vineyard USA
Damascus, 30 July (AKI) - Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is scheduled to visit Syria on Tuesday where he will meet Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.Moratinos who was in Lebanon on Monday will also hold talks in Damascus with Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Muallim.Discussions are set to focus on the long-stalled Middle East peace initiative and in particular Israeli-Syrian relations.
Moratinos has expressed Spain's support for an Arab League-sponsored plan that sees Arab states giving Israel full recognition in exchange if the Jewish state returns occupied land including the Golan Heights to Syria.
Moratinos' Syrian stop-over is part of a regional tour including Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.Moratinos paid several visits to Syria last year while his counterpart Muallim travelled to Spain last month. During the visit he handed a letter from Assad to Spain's King Juan Carlos in which the Syrian leader briefed the monarch on bi-lateral relations and on the situation in the Middle East.Spain and Italy - through its foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema who recently visited Damascus - have been spearheading the European Union's indirect efforts to bring Damascus into the peace process.The EU downscaled relations with Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a crime in which a United Nations investigators have implicated Syrian security officials.
Can Israel Be Saved?
July 30,2007 - By Robert Muchnick
Manhigut Yehudit USA
rmuchnick@manhigut.org
All of us American Jews look across the ocean at our beloved State of Israel and we wonder What went wrong? and How can it be fixed? Or we even dare to whisper, Can it be saved?
Israel is faced with a seemingly endless string of enemies bent on its destruction - from Hamas to the so-called moderate PLO, from Hizballah to Syria , and now to nuclear-bound Iran . This situation would be depressing enough for most of us, but what makes it worse is the fact that all of Israel 's politicians and leaders are plagued by corruption, scandals and/or complete and utter ineptitude. In a recent poll, Israel 's current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received an approval rating of below 1%. That's right - below 1%. Yet somehow, he manages to stay in office because his Kadima party and the other parties in the government refuse to vote him out of office because they would most surely lose their comfortable Knesset seats and the perks that go along with them if they did.
Olmert even tries to hang onto office by proposing further Israeli withdrawals from Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) and the Golan Heights to make him appear as a successful peacemaker, even though it is obvious to all that the concept of evicting Jews from their homes such as was done in 2005 from Gaza was a complete failure and only put Israel in a much worse strategic position than it was in previously. Let's also not forget to mention that Ariel Sharon's Disengagement has produced 10,000 Jewish refugees in their own country who are being treated worse than the government treats endangered salamanders, and it brought death and its daily specter to thousands of Israelis who live in cities surrounding Gaza by way of Arab rockets falling daily on them which the government refuses to answer in a serious way.
How can it be fixed when according to recent polls, the majority of non-observant Israeli teens can't even recite the Shema, and three-quarters of them have never set foot anywhere in the city of Jerusalem by the time they enter the army at 18 years of age? Unbelievable as it may seem, these numbers are true! Is it any wonder that the majority of non-observant Israelis actually believe that their country won't exist in 30 years. Should we all heed the unbelievable advice given last month by former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg who told all Israeli Jews to get foreign passports, eliminate the Jewish right of return to Israel , and make Israel into a bi-national state - i.e. an Arab state - immediately, or do we have a Jewish answer to this cesspool of problems?
There is hope!
There is one man who is trying to lead the country who has real answers to these very real problems, and on August 14th, the Likud party will be able to choose him to run for Prime Minister. As all Israeli polls show the Likud party winning the next general election, in essence the Likud's August 14 primary is really to choose the next Prime Minister of the State of Israel.Moshe Feiglin is the President of Manhigut Yehudit, which in English means Jewish Leadership, the largest bloc inside the Likud Party of Israel . Mr. Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit were invited into the Likud party in 2001, as veteran Likudniks felt that the Likud party had abandoned its ideology and they felt that Mr. Feiglin would be the one to bring it back. They surely felt this way because during the early good years of the peace process, Mr. Feiglin and his predecessor organization, Zo Artzeinu (This is Our Land), were the first to introduce the concept of non-violent civil disobedience into Israel in such a way as Martin Luther King had done so in America during the 1960's.
Even though the Likud has only continued the shameful Oslo farce, the Likud's official charter still calls for Jewish annexation of and settlement of the entire Land of Israel along with the country being run by Jewish Values. Manhigut Yehudit joined Likud because it agreed with these core Likud principles, and because most Prime Ministers come from the Likud party. As such, Mr. Feiglin decided that in order to lead the entire State of Israel from the Prime Minister's office, the best way to do this would be through the Likud party.In the previous Likud primary for head of the party, and therefore for candidate for Prime Minister, Mr. Feiglin finished in 3rd place out of 7 with 13% of the vote. According to current polls for the upcoming August 14 Likud primary, Mr. Feiglin now is polling very strongly and trails only former PM and Oslo-continuer and Disengagement-supporter Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu only this summer stated that he advocates bringing Jordanian troops into Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) in order to strengthen the palestinian moderate Mahmoud Abbas in order to help Abbas create another Arab state inside of the Land of Israel . Aside from ignoring Abbas' credentials as Yasser Arafat's right-hand man for 40 years, his being the author of the PLO's phased plan for the destruction of Israel in stages (the first stage being negotiations), and ignoring his direct ties to the Nazi genocide by way of his mentor the Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al Husseini (who created Bosnian SS Divisions for Hitler and drew plans for another Auschwitz in Israel), Netanyahu's vision is just a continuation of the suicidal policies of the Left. Hasn't he seen the direct correlation between the amount of land that Israel gives to its enemies and the amount of Jews who are murdered? Don't we deserve better than this?
Manhigut Yehudit's all-encompassing mission is to perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty....by awakening and revitalizing Israeli society in its connection and bond to its Jewish roots, national history and the Land of Israel . Manhigut Yehudit's unmistakable message of Jewish Values, Jewish Pride, and Social and Judicial reforms strives to turn the State of Jews into the Jewish State.Before we go any further, let's take a look at Manhigut Yehudit's policy lines to see how Moshe Feiglin as Prime Minister plans on accomplishing this goal:
A Jewish State: The State of Israel is the instrument for establishing the sovereignty of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel . Massive government funding to bring ALL Jews home.
Education towards Love of Israel , Torah and the Land: Education for ALL Israelis based on Jewish values, taught with love and not through coercion. One hour per day of Judaism will be taught in schools. Currently there is NO Jewish education in schools.
Liberation of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount: We shall foster Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and build a synagogue and study hall for the Sanhedrin on the Temple Mount where permitted by Jewish Law. Sovereignty of the Temple Mount will be taken from the Islamic Wakf and given back to the Jewish People.
Cancellation of the Oslo Accords and Immediate Annexation of Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza : Honoring the Biblical covenant between the Nation of Israel and the Creator of the world, we shall immediately annex all territory in our hands, settle EVERY part of the Land of Israel and terminate the Oslo Accords. This plan also honors the philosophy of common sense - namely since the Arabs have attacked us and lost these territories, they deserve to pay a penalty. As such, they will never recover these territories. We believe in the policy of Peace for Peace, not Land for Peace, which has been proven not to work.
Renewal of Democracy and the Justice System on the Basis of National Values: A constitution based on Jewish values shall be enacted to preserve Israel as a Jewish country (yet not to legislate or mandate religious practice), to protect the human and civil rights of all its faithful residents, and to protect the political rights of its Jews.
Jewish Labor for an Effective, Creative and Moral Economy: Jewish labor will be encouraged, with vocational training during the third year of army service and the removal of foreign workers. We will strive to build all our military necessities and not purchase them from the US and elsewhere.
Energy & Financial Independence: We will initiate a massively government funded and directed plan to develop non-petroleum-based energy sources so as to provide ourselves and the world with clean, abundant energy which will provide us and not our enemies with funding. We will also end the acceptance of aid from America (it comprises only 2.5% of Israel's GNP), as it is a drag on Israel's economy, costs Israel 100,000 jobs and costs Israel its real or perceived sovereignty.
Returning Moral Strength and Power of Deterrence to Israel 's Army: The Israeli Army must not be concerned with world opinion, must strike first when required, and will be enabled to defeat and destroy Israel 's enemies.
The upcoming Likud primary will be held in a few weeks on August 14th. Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit hope to make this election one that will reverberate around the globe with the hope that the Jewish People will not lie down in the face of their problems anymore, but that they will stand up and defeat them with their heads held high, and they will lead the world to victory.Won't you help us make this very worthwhile dream into a reality?
To learn more about Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) and to get involved in making a better future for Israel , visit www.jewishisrael.org .
Tova Abady
Media Liaison
917-301-0997 (cell)
simplefaith2002@yahoo.com
I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE SO CALLED CHRISTIANS, THESE REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY BELIEVERS GIVING GEORGE W A LETTER OF THANKS FOR GIVING THE ARABS A STATE OF THEIR OWN. HOGWASH READ THE BIBLE LUKEWARMERS ITS ISSAIC S LAND (ISRAEL) NOT ISHMAELS (ARABS), THIS JUST MAKES ME SICK.
Letter to President Bush From Evangelical Leaders
DiggFacebookNewsvinePermalink - July 29, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write as evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to thank you for your efforts (including the major address on July 16) to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We affirm your clear call for a two-state solution. We urge that your administration not grow weary in the time it has left in office to utilize the vast influence of America to demonstrate creative, consistent and determined U.S. leadership to create a new future for Israelis and Palestinians. We pray to that end, Mr. President.
We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region.
As evangelical Christians, we embrace the biblical promise to Abraham: I will bless those who bless you. (Genesis 12:3). And precisely as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures, we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted. Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our neighbors. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.
Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine. Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other. The only way to bring the tragic cycle of violence to an end is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just, lasting agreement that guarantees both sides viable, independent, secure states. To achieve that goal, both sides must give up some of their competing, incompatible claims. Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other's right to exist. And to achieve that goal, the U.S. must provide robust leadership within the Quartet to reconstitute the Middle East roadmap, whose full implementation would guarantee the security of the State of Israel and the viability of a Palestinian State. We affirm the new role of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and pray that the conference you plan for this fall will be a success.
Mr. President, we renew our prayers and support for your leadership to help bring peace to Jerusalem, and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land.
Finally, we would request to meet with you to personally convey our support and discuss other ways in which we may help your administration on this crucial issue.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Sider, President
Evangelicals for Social Action
Don Argue, President
Northwest University
Raymond J. Bakke, Chancellor
Bakke Graduate University
Gary M. Benedict, President
The Christian & Missionary Alliance
George K. Brushaber, President
Bethel University
Gary M. Burge, Professor
Wheaton College & Graduate School
Tony Campolo, President/Founder
Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education
Christopher J. Doyle, CEO
American Leprosy Mission
Leighton Ford, President
Leighton Ford Ministries
Daniel Grothe, Pastoral Staff
New Life Church (Colorado Springs)
Vernon Grounds, Chancellor
Denver Seminary
Stephen Hayner, former President
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor
Northland Church
Member, Executive Committee of the NAE
Jo Anne Lyon, Founder/CEO
World Hope International
Gordon MacDonald, Chair of the Board
World Relief
Albert G. Miller, Professor
Oberlin College
Richard Mouw, President
Fuller Theological Seminary
David Neff, Editor
Christianity Today
Glenn R. Palmberg, President
Evangelical Covenant Church
Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor
University Presbyterian Church Seattle
Victor D. Pentz, Pastor
Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta
John Perkins, President
John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation & Development
Bob Roberts, Jr., Senior Pastor
Northwood Church, Dallas
Leonard Rogers, Executive Director
Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Andrew Ryskamp, Executive Director
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Chris Seiple, President
Institute for Global Engagement
Robert A. Seiple, Former Ambassador-at-Large,
International Religious Freedom
U.S. State Department
Luci N. Shaw, Author, Lecturer
Regent College, Vancouver
Jim Skillen, Executive Director
Center for Public Justice
Glen Harold Stassen, Professor
Fuller Theological Seminary
Richard Stearns, President
World Vision
Clyde D. Taylor, Former Chair of the Board
World Relief
Harold Vogelaar, Director
Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice
Berten Waggoner, National Director
Vineyard USA
Sunday, July 29, 2007
YES ISRAEL SHOULD REBUILD 3RD TEMPLE
EU treaty ratification may be difficult, experts say
27.07.2007 - 17:51 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Even if the EU manages to avoid referendums on its new Reform Treaty, ratification of the text may prove less easy than has been assumed so far, a Brussels think tank has warned. A paper by the European Policy Centre released on Thursday (26 July) highlights hurdles and traps in member states' ratification of the reform treaty, which the Portuguese EU presidency hopes to get signed by EU leaders before the end of the year.France, which rejected the original EU constitution in a referendum in 2005, has this time opted for treaty ratification via the parliament.But Mr Sarkozy may run into unexpected problems according to the EPC paper.
Before it can ratify the reform treaty, Paris will first have to make changes to its own national constitution because it still contains direct references to the old EU constitutional treaty.These references were agreed by French deputies in 2004, in the expectation that the EU constitution would soon come into force - before French voters said no to the treaty.It is true that the constitution should be changed, said a French official, adding that this process should take place quickly during 2008.But in order to have the French constitution amended, Mr Sarkozy needs a three-fifths majority in the French Congress - a body combining the country's national assembly and the senate.For this he depends on the support of the opposition socialists.
The socialist are in a very difficult situation right now. They could use this opportunity to take revenge at Sarkozy and negotiate to the maximum, said Philippe Moreau Defarges, a senior analyst at the French Institute for International relations (IFRI).Mr Defarges indicated that it is unlikely that the socialists will actually block the constitutional changes, but added that the party's internal disarray makes its behaviour unpredictable.Once the constitutional hurdle in France is cleared, parliamentary ratification of the EU treaty is set to be relatively easy, as for this move Mr Sarkozy would only need a simple majority of UMP deputies, who dominate in the assembly.
Obstacles on the road
Other governments in the EU, however, do need a three-fifths or two-thirds parliamentary majority to have the treaty ratified, the EPC paper points out.In Austria and Finland there are no signs that a two-thirds majority will pose a problem, but Poland and the Czech Republic may prove more problematic, the paper notes.Warsaw still needs to indicate what parliamentary procedure it wants to follow, but opposition support in parliament may prove crucial to pass a two-thirds threshold, with a eurosceptic party in Poland's ruling coalition recently saying it could vote against the treaty.In the Czech Republic, opposition support may also be necessary for a three-fifth majority.
An even bigger problem could be posed by possible referendums down the line, the think-tank argues. So far, only Ireland has officially announced that it will call a referendum, but other member states are facing pressure to do the same, including the UK, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Spain and Luxembourg.
Much could depend on which country is first to ratify the new treaty - and whether any other member state apart from Ireland decides to call a referendum at an early stage in the process, according to the report.If that happens it will be increasingly difficult for those governments which find themselves in the grey area to avoid having one.
Parliaments, not voters, to ratify new EU treaty
By Justin Stares, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:42am BST 29/07/2007
The new European Union treaty has several hurdles to jump before it can become law.
• Ireland, where voters rejected the Nice Treaty in 2001, looks set for another vote next year. I'm assuming we will have to have a referendum, Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, told opposition leaders last month. Ireland's shock 2001 rejection of the original treaty forced Dublin to seek an amendment ensuring the country could not be dragged unwillingly into EU military action. After obtaining it, a second referendum was held, and a majority voted yes. The Irish would again be expected to vote yes to the new treaty.
• Denmark is another country where a new vote could take place. The Danes have rejected a key EU treaty before in a referendum - the Maastricht Treaty - though approved it in a second vote after Copenhagen obtained an opt-out from the euro and from moves towards a common EU defence. According to a recent poll, more than half of all Danes want a referendum on the new treaty, though Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, has yet to commit himself.
• In Holland, debate on the desirability and necessity of another vote has split parliament. The hot potato has therefore been handed to the country's highest court, the Council of State.
• In Portugal, too, there could be a referendum, although the country's long-standing pro-European bias would make the outcome of any such vote a foregone conclusion.
• The French are not expected get another chance to vote because the new mini-treaty was the brainchild of President Nicolas Sarkozy. He made it clear that he would only put the text to a vote in parliament during his election campaign earlier this year. The more sceptical EU countries are not expected to bar ratification for the same reason: parliaments, not the people, will decide. This is also the case in the Czech Republic, where the new treaty enjoys support among the government and the opposition, and in Poland though here the outcome is less easy to predict.
• In the remaining EU member states, moves towards greater integration enjoy either a majority or overwhelming support.
Vatican City: Islam a Threat, Pope’s Adviser Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Published: July 27, 2007
Msgr. Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s secretary and close adviser, warned of the Islamization of Europe and stressed the need for the Continent’s Christian roots not to be ignored. In comments released in advance of an interview to be published today in the German weekly Süeddeutsche Magazin, he said: Attempts to Islamize the West cannot be denied. The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness. He also defended a speech Benedict gave last year linking Islam and violence, saying it was an attempt by the pope to act against a certain naïveté.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein COME WITH US TO ISRAEL
July 27, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Today, I am back in Jerusalem, discussing plans for this fall’s Journey Home Tour to Israel 2007 with Fellowship staff. I’ve been telling you for several months about this trip, and am greatly looking forward to meeting and sharing a Sabbath meal with tour participants. The Bible promises, Blessed are those … who have set their hearts on pilgrimage (Psalm 84:5) – and I want to again invite you to take your own pilgrimage to the Holy Land with us. Registration for the tour is officially closing on August 1, so if you have been planning to register, now is the time to sign up for what promises to be the trip of a lifetime.
Several years ago, The Fellowship led its first tour to Israel. All the participants on that first trip went home with memories, friendships and experiences that will endure a lifetime. Even today, we hear from Fellowship supporters who reminisce about their first day in Jerusalem’s Old City, or their first prayer at the Western Wall. They recall the smile of a child at Migdal Ohr, the Fellowship-funded orphanage in the Lower Galilee that is home to more than 6,000 children. They tell how serving meals at a soup kitchen in Jerusalem, holding babies in a day-care center in Bet She’an or meeting Ethiopian immigrants grateful for the klitah (resettlement) assistance they’ve received has made them view their support of The Fellowship with greater appreciation and understanding.
They also tell of the impact the trip has had on their faith. Following that first tour, one participant said something that has stayed with me ever since. If you know the Bible, if you read the Bible, if you believe in the Word of God, come and walk through the Bible and see it with your own eyes, she said. One trip to Israel is a life changing experience that no Sunday school can ever teach. It's really walking in the footsteps of the Bible, being there where it all happened. Nothing can replace that.
If you are interested in growing in your faith by walking in the footsteps of the Bible, and in seeing how your gifts help transform lives in Israel, please contact us today to be part of The Fellowship’s Journey Home Tour 2007. I promise you, it will be an unforgettable, life-changing experience. As you prayerfully consider this invitation, my prayer is that God will bless you, even as you have blessed his people, Israel.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS
AMERICA DO NOT HELP ANY ARAB COUNTRIES WITH WEAPONS, THEY WILL USE THEM AGAINST ISRAEL. HELP ISRAEL AND ONLY ISRAEL WITH 30 BILLION DOLLARS AND LOTS OF WEAPONS.
Israel Confirms Increased $30 Bln. U.S. Defense Aid JULY 29,07
(RTTNews) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the U.S. military and defense aid was an important element for the security of his country, confirming a U.S. plan to significantly increase military aid to Israel. Olmert said the proposal was discussed at his meeting with U.S. President George Bush in Washington last month, and was a sign of U.S. commitment to maintain Israel's military advantage over the Arab states. There have been reports in U.S. newspapers that the U.S. was planning a 25% increase in military and defense aid package to Israel aggregating about $30 billion spread over the next ten years. Israel currently receives $2.4 billion U.S. defense aid annually. It was also reported that Washington is in the process of preparing a major arms package sales to Saudi Arabia and five other middle-East countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.
US readies arms deal with Saudis, eyeing Iran: official Sat Jul 28, 9:38 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is readying a major arms package for Saudi Arabia with an eye to countering a changing threat from Iran, a senior US defense official said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to discuss the US recommendations with the Saudis next week in a visit to the kingdom with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the official said Friday.We've been working very hard on the Saudi arms package, which we believe is critical to the overarching architecture that we believe we are going to need ... to deal with the changing strategic threat from Iran and other forces, the official said.
The official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said discussions with Congress on the arms package have just begun and that no announcements were expected during Gates' visit to Saudi Arabia.What there may be is discussion about what the administration is willing to go forwards with (and) ... what we would recommend to the Hill and others, she said, referring to Congress on Capitol Hill.The Pentagon provided no details on the arms package, which will reportedly total 20 billion dollars over the next decade.But administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would include selling Saudi Arabia advanced weapons known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs.
JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit converting existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided smart weapons.Munition equipped with such kits can attack simultaneously multiple targets in a coordinated strike by single or multiple aircraft.JDAM weapons were extensively used by the United States in recent conflicts. More than 650 of them were dropped during the 1999 operation in Kosovo, more than 4,500 during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2002 and over 6,500 during the invasion of Iraq in March-April 2003, according to defense experts.
The package also will include new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, another US ally in the Persian Gulf, and both military and economic support to Egypt, the officials said.Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reported in March that it is believed to include air and missile defense systems, advanced early warning radar aircraft, and light coastal combat ships.The New York Times reported in April that the package had been delayed because of Israeli concerns over the sale to Saudi Arabia of certain precision guided munitions.Gates and Rice are expected to emphasize US commitment to the region's security at a time when there is fierce debate at home of whether to withdraw US forces from Iraq.
Congress has the power to block such sales, but the White House is hoping to avoid a major fight on the issue.Israel, meanwhile, is reported to have asked for the F-22 Raptor, the stealthy US fighter jet, which is difficult to see on radar.
EVEN IF A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE AGAINST REBUILDING THE 3RD TEMPLE, ITS GOING TO BE REBUILT BEFORE THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY IS SIGNED. IN DANIEL 9:27 WE SEE THE ISRAELIS SACRIFICING TO GOD FOR THE FIRST 3 1/2 YRS OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
Jul. 24, 2007 5:11 - Should Jews build the Third Temple?
By STEPHEN GABRIEL ROSENBERG - JERUSALEM POST
Traditionally the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha Be'av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so. The occasion for this street theater is the anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and that of the Second Temple in 70 CE, both said to have occurred on the same calendar date. It is certainly right that the date be commemorated; but would rebuilding the Temple be an appropriate act for the State of Israel today?
Assuming there were no Dome of the Rock and no Muslim presence on the Temple Mount, no Wakf and no Aksa Mosque, the pressure to rebuild the Temple would be enormous - but would it, in historical terms, be sound? The last time such an opportunity occurred was in the time of Julian the Apostate, in 362 CE. That Roman Emperor, who succeeded Constantine, reversed his predecessor's decision to turn the empire into a Christian state and returned to the former pagan religions, which were permissive of other cults, including the Jewish one. It seems that he gave permission for the Temple to be rebuilt, and then went off to fight his enemies. In Jerusalem work commenced on reconstructing the altar, but hardly had a few stones been put one on another, when a massive earthquake hit the area and the work collapsed. Worse still, Julian was killed in Persia and his place was taken by the Emperor Jovian, who reinstalled Christianity as the official religion. Any hope of rebuilding the Temple ceased, never to return.
IN 638 CE, the hordes of Islam conquered Jerusalem and by 692 the Caliph Abd al-Malik had completed the Dome of the Rock, which stood on the mountain inviolate for the following 1,315 years. During the Crusader years it was converted to Christian use, and most Crusaders thought it had been built originally as the Temple of Solomon, but it was not changed structurally and returned to the Muslims on expulsion of the Crusaders in 1187. However, it did not return as a mosque, as it had never been one. As the Dome was not a mosque, why did Abd al-Malik build it? It may be that he was attempting to set up a place of pilgrimage in competition to Mecca, which was controlled by his rival, Ibn al-Zubayr, but it seems more likely that, probably advised by an ex-Jewish companion, he recognized the historic significance of the site and in particular of the rock, the foundation stone, the even shetiya, that carried so much religious baggage. It was the scene of the Mihrab of Dawood (shrine of David) and the Bayit al-Makdis of Sulayman (Temple of Solomon) so al-Malik may have selected the site as a kind of location of ultimate holiness, maybe even for the Day of the Last Judgement.
The unique design of the building, a circular dome over an octagonal base, emphasized its concentration on the central feature, the Rock. Unlike any mosque, the building had no directional focus and was entered by four doorways, one to each of the cardinal points, as if to encourage access to persons or, indeed, their souls coming from the four corners of the earth. LATER THE Muslims observed that the Rock was the mythical arrival and departure point of Mohammed on his white steed Buraq, but Abd al-Malik had recognized the precedence of Solomon and even Abraham on the site. This makes it clear that the sanctity of the site stems from its Jewish origins, though the Muslims, of course, claim Abraham as one of their own, and venerate Solomon as divine. Now, even if the Muslim attitude would be to allow a Jewish presence, and even a rebuilding on the site, would it be in the Jewish interest to proceed with a third Temple?
WHEN HEROD decided to rebuild the Temple in 19 BCE, 18 years after having been handed the throne by the Romans, there must have been much trepidation among the population, the priests and others, about his intentions. He managed to calm their fears by employing only priests on the Temple itself and by enabling the Korban Tamid, the daily sacrifices, to continue without interruption. The resources that he used were vast and would have pleased the local craftsmen, who were provided with employment for many years. The end result pleased even his rabbinic critics, though well after the event: Whoever has not seen Herod's building has never seen anything beautiful, they crowed. This was a surprising reaction, as very few rabbis were yet around to see the Temple in its glory. Additionally, modern reconstructions show a rather high, lopsided building with an overblown classical front sitting on a vast platform that completely ignores the beautiful mountain it covered. Such an oversize terrace must have intimidated anyone venturing on to it.
The huge expanse of uncovered space would not be conducive to our weather, be it sunshine or rain. For all its glory, the structure was not completed until 60 CE, well after the death of Herod, and it only stood another six years before its service was embroiled in the revolt against the Romans. So what did Herod's great work really achieve? Did it achieve unity among the Jewish people? Did it achieve harmony between our different factions? Did it achieve reconciliation with our governors, the Romans, who admired the structure built on classical lines by their favorite Jewish ruler? Did its presence give us protection against our enemies or absolution for our sins? QUITE THE contrary. The daily sacrifices were used by the zealots to exclude the offering of the Roman emperor, which led to reprisals and insults by the occupying army. Different parties saw different ways of resolving the crisis, but could find no unanimity among themselves. The High Priest, who might have been a potential leader, was just another political appointment, as he had been under the Seleucids; even his sacred clothing was held hostage in the hands of the Roman governor. The priests were divided in their loyalties and unable to conduct the divine service in a dignified manner.
When it came to the actual revolt in Jerusalem, things turned perilous, and civil war reigned. The zealots, led by John of Gischala, got the upper hand and the peace party was unable to stop them. Another zealot leader, Simon bar Giora, was welcomed into the city to oppose Gischala, but the two soon joined together against the moderates. That union did not last and within a short time there were three gangster parties (in the words of Josephus) who burnt each other's grain supplies, not realizing that they would all suffer in the end. Only the Romans could benefit from the chaos, and so they did, in spite of the brave efforts put up by the separate parties, one of whom used the Temple precinct for a heroic, if vain, last stand. The magnificent Herodian Temple, as finally completed, had stood for only 10 years.
THIS WAS not so different from the vicissitudes of the First Temple. Solomon completed it with forced labor shifts, directed by his chief taskmaster, Adoniram. On Solomon's death, the majority of the tribes revolted against his successor Rehoboam, put the hated Adoniram to death by stoning, and set up the Northern Kingdom, which had no use for the Temple.In the south, the Temple was sacked by Pharaoh Shishak in about 925 BCE, and all its gold was stripped away and taken to Egypt. Rehoboam was forced to present to the people shields of polished brass to simulate the looted metal. The golden glory of Solomon's Temple had lasted for just 40 years. Not long after, king Asa had to use the replaced Temple treasures to bribe Ben-Hadad of Aram (Syria) to help him fight against Baasa, king of Northern Israel. Worse than all that loss of treasure was the fact that the First Temple, as described in our sacred books, became the focus of idol worship in the reigns of the Judahite kings Asa, Jehoram, Amaziah and the queen Athaliah, who gave its treasures to the House of Baal.
The timely restoration under Hezekiah was undermined by his son Manasseh, and the renaissance initiated by Josiah was sabotaged by the desecration of his successors that culminated in defeat by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, followed by destruction 11 years later. What happened to the glory of the First Temple? It lasted 40 years. The Second Temple never achieved glory until its rebuilding by Herod, and that lasted 10 years. Will a Third Temple fare any better? The records of history are against it.
The writer is a Fellow of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem.
27.07.2007 - 17:51 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Even if the EU manages to avoid referendums on its new Reform Treaty, ratification of the text may prove less easy than has been assumed so far, a Brussels think tank has warned. A paper by the European Policy Centre released on Thursday (26 July) highlights hurdles and traps in member states' ratification of the reform treaty, which the Portuguese EU presidency hopes to get signed by EU leaders before the end of the year.France, which rejected the original EU constitution in a referendum in 2005, has this time opted for treaty ratification via the parliament.But Mr Sarkozy may run into unexpected problems according to the EPC paper.
Before it can ratify the reform treaty, Paris will first have to make changes to its own national constitution because it still contains direct references to the old EU constitutional treaty.These references were agreed by French deputies in 2004, in the expectation that the EU constitution would soon come into force - before French voters said no to the treaty.It is true that the constitution should be changed, said a French official, adding that this process should take place quickly during 2008.But in order to have the French constitution amended, Mr Sarkozy needs a three-fifths majority in the French Congress - a body combining the country's national assembly and the senate.For this he depends on the support of the opposition socialists.
The socialist are in a very difficult situation right now. They could use this opportunity to take revenge at Sarkozy and negotiate to the maximum, said Philippe Moreau Defarges, a senior analyst at the French Institute for International relations (IFRI).Mr Defarges indicated that it is unlikely that the socialists will actually block the constitutional changes, but added that the party's internal disarray makes its behaviour unpredictable.Once the constitutional hurdle in France is cleared, parliamentary ratification of the EU treaty is set to be relatively easy, as for this move Mr Sarkozy would only need a simple majority of UMP deputies, who dominate in the assembly.
Obstacles on the road
Other governments in the EU, however, do need a three-fifths or two-thirds parliamentary majority to have the treaty ratified, the EPC paper points out.In Austria and Finland there are no signs that a two-thirds majority will pose a problem, but Poland and the Czech Republic may prove more problematic, the paper notes.Warsaw still needs to indicate what parliamentary procedure it wants to follow, but opposition support in parliament may prove crucial to pass a two-thirds threshold, with a eurosceptic party in Poland's ruling coalition recently saying it could vote against the treaty.In the Czech Republic, opposition support may also be necessary for a three-fifth majority.
An even bigger problem could be posed by possible referendums down the line, the think-tank argues. So far, only Ireland has officially announced that it will call a referendum, but other member states are facing pressure to do the same, including the UK, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Spain and Luxembourg.
Much could depend on which country is first to ratify the new treaty - and whether any other member state apart from Ireland decides to call a referendum at an early stage in the process, according to the report.If that happens it will be increasingly difficult for those governments which find themselves in the grey area to avoid having one.
Parliaments, not voters, to ratify new EU treaty
By Justin Stares, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:42am BST 29/07/2007
The new European Union treaty has several hurdles to jump before it can become law.
• Ireland, where voters rejected the Nice Treaty in 2001, looks set for another vote next year. I'm assuming we will have to have a referendum, Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, told opposition leaders last month. Ireland's shock 2001 rejection of the original treaty forced Dublin to seek an amendment ensuring the country could not be dragged unwillingly into EU military action. After obtaining it, a second referendum was held, and a majority voted yes. The Irish would again be expected to vote yes to the new treaty.
• Denmark is another country where a new vote could take place. The Danes have rejected a key EU treaty before in a referendum - the Maastricht Treaty - though approved it in a second vote after Copenhagen obtained an opt-out from the euro and from moves towards a common EU defence. According to a recent poll, more than half of all Danes want a referendum on the new treaty, though Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, has yet to commit himself.
• In Holland, debate on the desirability and necessity of another vote has split parliament. The hot potato has therefore been handed to the country's highest court, the Council of State.
• In Portugal, too, there could be a referendum, although the country's long-standing pro-European bias would make the outcome of any such vote a foregone conclusion.
• The French are not expected get another chance to vote because the new mini-treaty was the brainchild of President Nicolas Sarkozy. He made it clear that he would only put the text to a vote in parliament during his election campaign earlier this year. The more sceptical EU countries are not expected to bar ratification for the same reason: parliaments, not the people, will decide. This is also the case in the Czech Republic, where the new treaty enjoys support among the government and the opposition, and in Poland though here the outcome is less easy to predict.
• In the remaining EU member states, moves towards greater integration enjoy either a majority or overwhelming support.
Vatican City: Islam a Threat, Pope’s Adviser Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Published: July 27, 2007
Msgr. Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s secretary and close adviser, warned of the Islamization of Europe and stressed the need for the Continent’s Christian roots not to be ignored. In comments released in advance of an interview to be published today in the German weekly Süeddeutsche Magazin, he said: Attempts to Islamize the West cannot be denied. The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness. He also defended a speech Benedict gave last year linking Islam and violence, saying it was an attempt by the pope to act against a certain naïveté.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein COME WITH US TO ISRAEL
July 27, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Today, I am back in Jerusalem, discussing plans for this fall’s Journey Home Tour to Israel 2007 with Fellowship staff. I’ve been telling you for several months about this trip, and am greatly looking forward to meeting and sharing a Sabbath meal with tour participants. The Bible promises, Blessed are those … who have set their hearts on pilgrimage (Psalm 84:5) – and I want to again invite you to take your own pilgrimage to the Holy Land with us. Registration for the tour is officially closing on August 1, so if you have been planning to register, now is the time to sign up for what promises to be the trip of a lifetime.
Several years ago, The Fellowship led its first tour to Israel. All the participants on that first trip went home with memories, friendships and experiences that will endure a lifetime. Even today, we hear from Fellowship supporters who reminisce about their first day in Jerusalem’s Old City, or their first prayer at the Western Wall. They recall the smile of a child at Migdal Ohr, the Fellowship-funded orphanage in the Lower Galilee that is home to more than 6,000 children. They tell how serving meals at a soup kitchen in Jerusalem, holding babies in a day-care center in Bet She’an or meeting Ethiopian immigrants grateful for the klitah (resettlement) assistance they’ve received has made them view their support of The Fellowship with greater appreciation and understanding.
They also tell of the impact the trip has had on their faith. Following that first tour, one participant said something that has stayed with me ever since. If you know the Bible, if you read the Bible, if you believe in the Word of God, come and walk through the Bible and see it with your own eyes, she said. One trip to Israel is a life changing experience that no Sunday school can ever teach. It's really walking in the footsteps of the Bible, being there where it all happened. Nothing can replace that.
If you are interested in growing in your faith by walking in the footsteps of the Bible, and in seeing how your gifts help transform lives in Israel, please contact us today to be part of The Fellowship’s Journey Home Tour 2007. I promise you, it will be an unforgettable, life-changing experience. As you prayerfully consider this invitation, my prayer is that God will bless you, even as you have blessed his people, Israel.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS
AMERICA DO NOT HELP ANY ARAB COUNTRIES WITH WEAPONS, THEY WILL USE THEM AGAINST ISRAEL. HELP ISRAEL AND ONLY ISRAEL WITH 30 BILLION DOLLARS AND LOTS OF WEAPONS.
Israel Confirms Increased $30 Bln. U.S. Defense Aid JULY 29,07
(RTTNews) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the U.S. military and defense aid was an important element for the security of his country, confirming a U.S. plan to significantly increase military aid to Israel. Olmert said the proposal was discussed at his meeting with U.S. President George Bush in Washington last month, and was a sign of U.S. commitment to maintain Israel's military advantage over the Arab states. There have been reports in U.S. newspapers that the U.S. was planning a 25% increase in military and defense aid package to Israel aggregating about $30 billion spread over the next ten years. Israel currently receives $2.4 billion U.S. defense aid annually. It was also reported that Washington is in the process of preparing a major arms package sales to Saudi Arabia and five other middle-East countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.
US readies arms deal with Saudis, eyeing Iran: official Sat Jul 28, 9:38 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is readying a major arms package for Saudi Arabia with an eye to countering a changing threat from Iran, a senior US defense official said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to discuss the US recommendations with the Saudis next week in a visit to the kingdom with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the official said Friday.We've been working very hard on the Saudi arms package, which we believe is critical to the overarching architecture that we believe we are going to need ... to deal with the changing strategic threat from Iran and other forces, the official said.
The official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said discussions with Congress on the arms package have just begun and that no announcements were expected during Gates' visit to Saudi Arabia.What there may be is discussion about what the administration is willing to go forwards with (and) ... what we would recommend to the Hill and others, she said, referring to Congress on Capitol Hill.The Pentagon provided no details on the arms package, which will reportedly total 20 billion dollars over the next decade.But administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would include selling Saudi Arabia advanced weapons known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs.
JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit converting existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided smart weapons.Munition equipped with such kits can attack simultaneously multiple targets in a coordinated strike by single or multiple aircraft.JDAM weapons were extensively used by the United States in recent conflicts. More than 650 of them were dropped during the 1999 operation in Kosovo, more than 4,500 during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2002 and over 6,500 during the invasion of Iraq in March-April 2003, according to defense experts.
The package also will include new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, another US ally in the Persian Gulf, and both military and economic support to Egypt, the officials said.Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reported in March that it is believed to include air and missile defense systems, advanced early warning radar aircraft, and light coastal combat ships.The New York Times reported in April that the package had been delayed because of Israeli concerns over the sale to Saudi Arabia of certain precision guided munitions.Gates and Rice are expected to emphasize US commitment to the region's security at a time when there is fierce debate at home of whether to withdraw US forces from Iraq.
Congress has the power to block such sales, but the White House is hoping to avoid a major fight on the issue.Israel, meanwhile, is reported to have asked for the F-22 Raptor, the stealthy US fighter jet, which is difficult to see on radar.
EVEN IF A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE AGAINST REBUILDING THE 3RD TEMPLE, ITS GOING TO BE REBUILT BEFORE THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY IS SIGNED. IN DANIEL 9:27 WE SEE THE ISRAELIS SACRIFICING TO GOD FOR THE FIRST 3 1/2 YRS OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
Jul. 24, 2007 5:11 - Should Jews build the Third Temple?
By STEPHEN GABRIEL ROSENBERG - JERUSALEM POST
Traditionally the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha Be'av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so. The occasion for this street theater is the anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and that of the Second Temple in 70 CE, both said to have occurred on the same calendar date. It is certainly right that the date be commemorated; but would rebuilding the Temple be an appropriate act for the State of Israel today?
Assuming there were no Dome of the Rock and no Muslim presence on the Temple Mount, no Wakf and no Aksa Mosque, the pressure to rebuild the Temple would be enormous - but would it, in historical terms, be sound? The last time such an opportunity occurred was in the time of Julian the Apostate, in 362 CE. That Roman Emperor, who succeeded Constantine, reversed his predecessor's decision to turn the empire into a Christian state and returned to the former pagan religions, which were permissive of other cults, including the Jewish one. It seems that he gave permission for the Temple to be rebuilt, and then went off to fight his enemies. In Jerusalem work commenced on reconstructing the altar, but hardly had a few stones been put one on another, when a massive earthquake hit the area and the work collapsed. Worse still, Julian was killed in Persia and his place was taken by the Emperor Jovian, who reinstalled Christianity as the official religion. Any hope of rebuilding the Temple ceased, never to return.
IN 638 CE, the hordes of Islam conquered Jerusalem and by 692 the Caliph Abd al-Malik had completed the Dome of the Rock, which stood on the mountain inviolate for the following 1,315 years. During the Crusader years it was converted to Christian use, and most Crusaders thought it had been built originally as the Temple of Solomon, but it was not changed structurally and returned to the Muslims on expulsion of the Crusaders in 1187. However, it did not return as a mosque, as it had never been one. As the Dome was not a mosque, why did Abd al-Malik build it? It may be that he was attempting to set up a place of pilgrimage in competition to Mecca, which was controlled by his rival, Ibn al-Zubayr, but it seems more likely that, probably advised by an ex-Jewish companion, he recognized the historic significance of the site and in particular of the rock, the foundation stone, the even shetiya, that carried so much religious baggage. It was the scene of the Mihrab of Dawood (shrine of David) and the Bayit al-Makdis of Sulayman (Temple of Solomon) so al-Malik may have selected the site as a kind of location of ultimate holiness, maybe even for the Day of the Last Judgement.
The unique design of the building, a circular dome over an octagonal base, emphasized its concentration on the central feature, the Rock. Unlike any mosque, the building had no directional focus and was entered by four doorways, one to each of the cardinal points, as if to encourage access to persons or, indeed, their souls coming from the four corners of the earth. LATER THE Muslims observed that the Rock was the mythical arrival and departure point of Mohammed on his white steed Buraq, but Abd al-Malik had recognized the precedence of Solomon and even Abraham on the site. This makes it clear that the sanctity of the site stems from its Jewish origins, though the Muslims, of course, claim Abraham as one of their own, and venerate Solomon as divine. Now, even if the Muslim attitude would be to allow a Jewish presence, and even a rebuilding on the site, would it be in the Jewish interest to proceed with a third Temple?
WHEN HEROD decided to rebuild the Temple in 19 BCE, 18 years after having been handed the throne by the Romans, there must have been much trepidation among the population, the priests and others, about his intentions. He managed to calm their fears by employing only priests on the Temple itself and by enabling the Korban Tamid, the daily sacrifices, to continue without interruption. The resources that he used were vast and would have pleased the local craftsmen, who were provided with employment for many years. The end result pleased even his rabbinic critics, though well after the event: Whoever has not seen Herod's building has never seen anything beautiful, they crowed. This was a surprising reaction, as very few rabbis were yet around to see the Temple in its glory. Additionally, modern reconstructions show a rather high, lopsided building with an overblown classical front sitting on a vast platform that completely ignores the beautiful mountain it covered. Such an oversize terrace must have intimidated anyone venturing on to it.
The huge expanse of uncovered space would not be conducive to our weather, be it sunshine or rain. For all its glory, the structure was not completed until 60 CE, well after the death of Herod, and it only stood another six years before its service was embroiled in the revolt against the Romans. So what did Herod's great work really achieve? Did it achieve unity among the Jewish people? Did it achieve harmony between our different factions? Did it achieve reconciliation with our governors, the Romans, who admired the structure built on classical lines by their favorite Jewish ruler? Did its presence give us protection against our enemies or absolution for our sins? QUITE THE contrary. The daily sacrifices were used by the zealots to exclude the offering of the Roman emperor, which led to reprisals and insults by the occupying army. Different parties saw different ways of resolving the crisis, but could find no unanimity among themselves. The High Priest, who might have been a potential leader, was just another political appointment, as he had been under the Seleucids; even his sacred clothing was held hostage in the hands of the Roman governor. The priests were divided in their loyalties and unable to conduct the divine service in a dignified manner.
When it came to the actual revolt in Jerusalem, things turned perilous, and civil war reigned. The zealots, led by John of Gischala, got the upper hand and the peace party was unable to stop them. Another zealot leader, Simon bar Giora, was welcomed into the city to oppose Gischala, but the two soon joined together against the moderates. That union did not last and within a short time there were three gangster parties (in the words of Josephus) who burnt each other's grain supplies, not realizing that they would all suffer in the end. Only the Romans could benefit from the chaos, and so they did, in spite of the brave efforts put up by the separate parties, one of whom used the Temple precinct for a heroic, if vain, last stand. The magnificent Herodian Temple, as finally completed, had stood for only 10 years.
THIS WAS not so different from the vicissitudes of the First Temple. Solomon completed it with forced labor shifts, directed by his chief taskmaster, Adoniram. On Solomon's death, the majority of the tribes revolted against his successor Rehoboam, put the hated Adoniram to death by stoning, and set up the Northern Kingdom, which had no use for the Temple.In the south, the Temple was sacked by Pharaoh Shishak in about 925 BCE, and all its gold was stripped away and taken to Egypt. Rehoboam was forced to present to the people shields of polished brass to simulate the looted metal. The golden glory of Solomon's Temple had lasted for just 40 years. Not long after, king Asa had to use the replaced Temple treasures to bribe Ben-Hadad of Aram (Syria) to help him fight against Baasa, king of Northern Israel. Worse than all that loss of treasure was the fact that the First Temple, as described in our sacred books, became the focus of idol worship in the reigns of the Judahite kings Asa, Jehoram, Amaziah and the queen Athaliah, who gave its treasures to the House of Baal.
The timely restoration under Hezekiah was undermined by his son Manasseh, and the renaissance initiated by Josiah was sabotaged by the desecration of his successors that culminated in defeat by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, followed by destruction 11 years later. What happened to the glory of the First Temple? It lasted 40 years. The Second Temple never achieved glory until its rebuilding by Herod, and that lasted 10 years. Will a Third Temple fare any better? The records of history are against it.
The writer is a Fellow of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem.
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